32 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in. 



near Courtallum in the Tinnevelly District of the Madras Presidency, 

 was kindly sent me by a friend. In that the fish is represented as having 

 a deep chocolate coloured back and fins, the colour blending into golden 

 brown on the sides and gills, and fading into white on the stomach. The 

 iris of the eye is a bright vermilion, instead of the ordinary light yellow, 

 the pupil black as usual. So here seems to be a fourth Mahseer of distinct 

 colouring, and in my second edition I gave coloured plates of a Mahseer 

 that was light brown with silver stomach, and caudal and anal fins blue, 

 which was caught at a place called Subramani, in the South Canara 

 District of the Madras Presidency, and of another caught at Siradi in 

 the same district, that was dark grey all over with each scale shot with 

 gold, and the gold covering the gill covers and lips and iris of the eye. 

 The grey was darkest on the back fading into white on the abdomen. 

 The dorsal, caudal and anal fins were bright light blue, while the 

 pectoral and ventral fins were pink. 



I also gave a plate of a Mahseer taken at the Gairsoppa Falls in 

 North Canara in the Bombay Presidency, which was light blue all over 

 except on the abdomen which was white, and the iris which was 

 yellow. 



These last four Mahseers were all of the form shown in Plate II. 

 which is the form of fish that I have caught in Northern India, and 

 answers to Dr. Day's typical plate and description of Barbus tor. 



And yet again a friend writes me that the Assam Mahseer are " a 

 beautifully coppery bronze colour with vermilion fins." And again 

 another tells me that the Burmah Mahseer also vary, and a corre- 

 spondent of the Asian, L. J., writes of a Mahseer of 7 Ibs. with " back 

 and fins perfectly black, a game little head, and very thick through," 

 on which a friend comments, " black Mahseers are not uncommon." 



Plate III., is a copy, by kind permission, of Figure I. Plate CXL., 

 in Dr. Day's " Fishes of India." It shows a large development of 

 adipose continuations of the upper and lower lips. The flaps are 

 exhibited erect in the drawing, which shows well how they can stand 

 free ; but they ordinarily lie close against the fish. I have found this 

 peculiar formation occurring in all the places spoken of above, except 

 in Northern India, where I have not fished enough. It cannot indicate 

 a mere variety, for I have found it so frequently. Does it indicate a 

 species, or is it a temporary growth like the beak of a male salmon in 

 the spawning season? It cannot be the latter, because I do not 



