CHAP. in. Sexual Distinctions and Difficulties. 33 



remember to have ever seen it half developed, and I have notes of 

 having frequently observed it fully developed in small immature 

 Mahseer of i Ib. in weight and under, down to fry of five, five and a-half, 

 and six inches in length, when they could hardly be breeding. Native 

 fishermen always say that these Mahseer with the large developed lip 

 are the females, and even their small boys say it unhesitatingly, showing 

 that it is a well accepted dictum among them. Any such universally 

 accepted opinion of professionals I am in the habit of picking up as a 

 thing to be very thoroughly sifted b'efore it is discarded, for though the 

 native fishermen are untutored, they are professionals in their trade, and 

 much may be learnt from them within certain guarded limits, for they 

 possess the accumulated observation of generations of men of their own 

 caste, handed down from experienced sage to learning youth, learning a 

 trade that they have to live by. And even when they are incorrect there 

 is often a half truth buried in their incorrect conclusions. Still at the 

 same time they do hold very strange theories sometimes, as for instance 

 that the rock snake is the female of the cobra, which is one of their 

 tenaciously held beliefs. So though I was slow to cast this Mahseer 

 theory of theirs overboard till I had sifted it very thoroughly, still I 

 think the number of such very small Mahseer being caught with the 

 lips not partially but thoroughly developed, militates against their being 

 females. My conclusion is that they are a distinct species. But what 

 the function of these prolonged lips and beard may be I cannot 

 conceive. It is left as a puzzle for my readers to work out. 



If in many rivers there be more sorts of Mahseer than we are aware 

 of, it presents a new difficulty which may well be borne in mind. When 

 taking fry for stocking artificial lakes on hill sanatoria or elsewhere, it is 

 generally held that if you put in six the probabilities are five to one 

 that you have at least one of each sex from which to hope for propaga- 

 tion. But if in your six there are three sorts of Mahseer, so distinct in 

 species as to refuse to breed together, then it may well chance that you 

 have two each of three separate sorts, and not a sexual pair in the 

 lot. The evident precaution to be taken in stocking is clearly to 

 increase your chances by increasing your numbers, and by taking those 

 also as much as possible at the same part of the same river at the same 

 season. 



The Mahseer having been more fished for in Bengal than anywhere 

 else it had grown to be the common idea that he was exclusively a 



THE ROD IN INDIA. D 



