CHAP. viii. Preparing Chabena. 135 



been watching for a long time, or have failed to catch on a previous 

 occasion. 



"When at Poona some years afterwards I often asked whether there 

 was any fishing in the neighbourhood, but invariably was answered ' No,' 

 that there were lots of fish but no one could catch them. The river at 

 Poona is a good size and I thought I would try and get some of the fish 

 which I made sure were in it. The first two days I tried everything I 

 could think of as bait, but failed to touch a single fish. The third day, a 

 happy thought, I determined to try the old Jubbulpore plan of parched 

 gram, and very successful I was, that day getting several fish, one n Ibs. 

 in weight. They were not Mahseer, but some kind of carp, very deep 

 in the belly compared with the length. I did not keep the secret to myself, 

 and many good bags were afterwards made. The fish did not give much 

 sport like Mahseer, but after being hooked used to sulk in the bottom of 

 the river, and I was three hours landing the above n -pounder. 



" W. T. F." 



* * * * * * 



" I have read with much interest the letter from ' W. T. F.' about 

 fishing near Jabalpur. I, too, have fished in the Nerbada, and adopted 

 the plan mentioned by your correspondent : indeed it is about the only 

 way in which you can catch fish in this river. ' W. T. F.' mentions that 

 he found some difficulty in getting parched gram to stay on the hook : 

 what we used to do was to soak some raw gram in water, till it was soft 

 enough to pass a stout darning needle through. We would then thread 

 as much bait as was required on to the common country thread sold in 

 every bazaar. The bait was rolled up in damp cloth, and all we had to do 

 was to take off a grain or two when required for the hook. Let ' W. T. F. ' 

 try this plan and see how it succeeds. 



" T. A. B. 



