X:HAP. xn. The Chilwa. 175 



landing-net, another plying me and my friends (ego et rex meus, for 

 which Wolsey was called a bad courtier but a good scholar) with Ai 

 hot coffee and biscuits between the captures, and all falling in with the 

 sport right cheerily. It was too much for me, and I said to myself : 

 " You're good fellows, you shall have sport too in propria persona, and 

 not only by proxy." So I rigged up some No. ooo eyed hooks on a 

 single length of trout gut, gave them each a miniature detective float 

 for which see " Tank Angling " and a bit of string. Meanwhile they cut 

 themselves each a twig of bamboo. They used a tiny bit of my paste 

 bait, much about the size of a No. i shot, put the hook, with no shot, 

 about a foot below the float. The Chilwa took boldly. It was one 

 bob of the float and, mirabile dictu, they were instantly transformed into 

 flying fish, flying on shore. In a marvellously short time my men had 

 a basketful. " You've caught your dinner," I said. " Dinner," they 

 replied, " there's ten men's dinner there." I need not say my men were 

 none the worse attendants for being the happier, and the Labeo wagged 

 their old tails rejoicingly at the reservoir being a few hundred freer of 

 the pestilentially numerous Chilwa that jostled them for food. So there 

 you are, you see, that's the way to do it, whether with fly or paste. 



A little bran floating on the surface will bring them about you. 



The Chilwa is scarcely worthy of my devoting to it the number of 

 pages that would be required if, as in other cases, the full description 

 was extracted from Dr. Day's work. The general characteristics of the 

 genus may suffice, with an epitome for each species. 



Body rather elongate and compressed ; abdominal edge cutting. Pseudo- 

 branchiae present. Mouth directed somewhat upwards with the lower jaw 

 prominent, and generally with a knob above the symphysis. Barbels 

 absent. Pharyngeal teeth hooked and slender, in two or three rows. 

 Dorsal fin short, without any osseous ray> situated principally or entirely 

 opposite the anal, which latter has an elongated base. Pectorals long. 

 Caudal forked. Scales of moderate or small size. Lateral line concave. 



Order. PHYSOSTOMI. 



Family. CYPRINID^E. 



Sub-Family. CYPRININA. 



Genus. Chela. 



1. Chela gora. B. iii., D. 9-10 (i^S), P. 15, V. 8, A. 15-16 ( I7 n ). 

 C. 19, L.I. 140-160. L. tr. 18-20/18. Vert. 46. Ghora chela, Beng. 

 Chel-hul, Hind. Habitat: Sind, Punjab, North West Provinces, Bengal, 

 Orissa, and Assam. It attains at least 9 inches in length. 



2. C.Sladoni. B. iii., D. 10 (f), P. u, V. 8, A. 20-21 (^^) 9 C. 21, 



