CHAP iv. Asiatic Fish object to Cold Winds. 51 



in the Asian of 2oth December, 1881, as having written to him as 

 follows : 



" It is a very curious thing, not generally known, that the Ganges is 

 just the reverse of all or most other Indian rivers in regard to Mahseer 

 fishing. Thomas, in his book ' The Rod in India,' says about the rivers 

 in Central and South India, ' It is no use going out to fish unless the 

 water is quite clear ; ' and a friend of mine in the Kangra valley tells me it 

 is the same in the Beeas and other Panjab rivers. Here you may just 

 as well stay at home, unless the Ganges is a little discoloured. It gets 

 clear about the 2Oth to 2$th November, and for several years I have found 

 the fish cease to bite then, and continue to refuse to do so till March, 

 unless a fall of rain discolours the water, when they take readily until it 

 clears again." 



And this peculiarity of the Ganges is confirmed by another observer. 



I may further mention that on one occasion I had Mahseer running 

 pretty fairly while the rain fell off and on, and the stream was just 

 perceptibly coloured, but when the rain ceased, the weather became 

 quite bright, and a cold wind set in from the east, they altogether ceased 

 running, and I had four consecutive blank days. But in this case it was 

 not the brightness of the water that wrought my woe, but quite a distinct 

 factor, the cold wind ; and I notice it that the two factors may not be 

 confounded, for I have observed again and again that a cold wind has 

 the same effect on the appetites of many Indian fish, as it also has in 

 some places on trout in England, though rivers differ, trout behaving 

 specially well in some rivers during the prevalence of a cold wind, 

 though, in other places, they are quite " put down " by it. 



Even humans are affected by a cold east wind, and an old party 

 who, from sundry aches and pains had grown crusty, and always con- 

 sulted his weathercock to see if the wind was in the east before he 

 would venture out, was kept in for a fortnight by a loving young nephew 

 climbing up and tying his weathercock in the east. Little blackguard ! 

 Who would not be a boy ? 



One mode of fishing for Mahseer there is that may be followed in 

 coloured water. I was not aware of it when the above remarks on 

 bright water were written in the first edition, but those remarks are 

 thoroughly applicable still to all the ordinary methods of fishing for 

 Mahseer, and are worthy to be impressed as contrary to ordinary ideas, 

 and live-bait fishing is somewhat of an exceptional way to fall back upon 

 in coloured water, rather than to use by preference to fly-fishing or 



E 2 



