4 Introductory. CHAP. i. 



not half a dozen in all, whereas by the aid of my own rod I was enabled 

 in the early days of my first edition of "The Rod in India" in 1873, to 

 examine the ovaries and the stomachs of between seventy and eighty 

 Mahseer, and to gather therefrom reliable evidence of the state of 

 advancement of the former at different times and places, as well as the 

 most satisfactory proof of what the fish was in the habit of feeding upon. 

 And since then I have continually examined I know not how many fish 

 of sorts to verify and extend my knowledge. I say this not from any 

 conceit with reference to my own individual fishing, but in common 

 fairness to rods in general, in acknowledgment of how greatly pisci- 

 culture is dependent on the aid of angler sportsmen, as well as by way 

 of encouragement to observant fishermen, and in explanation of one 

 of my motives in writing on fishing ; for my idea is that if I can do any- 

 thing towards making a man a successful fisherman, I have advanced 

 one step towards making him, if not a pisciculturist, at any rate an 

 aider in acquiring knowledge on the subject, and thus an advancer of 

 its progress. 



Very much has been done at home for the advancement of the 

 science of pisciculture by the newspaper communications of sportsmen, 

 and though the matter thus obtained is considered and arranged and 

 utilized by the pisciculturist, it is to the intelligent angler that he is 

 after all indebted for most of his facts. In this respect the Indian 

 pisciculturist labours under peculiar disadvantages, for he not only has 

 to work through the medium of foreign languages, but also without the 

 aid, as in England, of a thousand intelligent observers, all ready to 

 communicate freely through the medium of special papers like The 

 Field or Land and Water. I write, therefore, also in the hope that 

 anglers may be induced to lend their kindly aid from time to time 

 towards increasing the knowledge of the habits of the fishes found 

 in Indian waters, and as a consequence to forward the efforts of 

 those seeking the best means of increasing the supply of this sort 

 of food. 



Still I write primarily for fishermen. In doing this, however, it 

 is a little difficult to know how to write. Though there are many good 

 fishermen in India there are also many who, from early absence from 

 England, know practically very little about it, although they are ready 

 enough to take to it, if they can only see their way to getting sport. 

 I have, therefore, two opposite courses to follow simultaneously. I 



