CHAP. xii. Barils. 179 



ponds where it is proposed to do so to make sport. I have taken 

 them about ~ Ib. and slightly under, with a black fly on a No 6 Sneck 

 bend hook, and I have also taken them and seen them taken with a 

 float and paste bait. But I have seen them taken over ~ Ib. with a net. 

 J have only seen them in the Adyar river above the anicut, and in the 

 Red Hill Reservoir, both near Madras. I cannot call them a sporting 

 fish, though I have known men well pleased with them. I found these 

 fish always in still water. I see Day says they are to be found in the 

 fresh waters along the coast of India from Cutch to Bengal, also in the 

 Deccan, Mysore, and Madras ; he also received a specimen from 

 Darjeeling. Tamulians call it Shani Kendae, or cow-dung carp, from its 

 colour, but olive carp is to the same effect, and prettier. 



There are just a few passing remarks on bottom fishing for this fish 

 at pages 37 and 46 of " Tank Angling." 



Barbels iv., D. 12 (f), P. 17, V. 9, A. 8 (J), C. 19, L. 1. 28-30, L. tr. 6/6. 



THE LESSER BARILS. 

 Barilius Canarensis. 



Of the genus Barilius there are fourteen species in India. They 

 are so widely distributed that every Indian angler must come across 

 them. One of them, Barilius bola, attains some size, and is commonly 

 known as the Indian trout ; under that name, therefore, it will be treated 

 of a little further on. The others run more or less to 6 inches in 

 length. I shall therefore call them the lesser Barils. Plate VII. is a 

 life-sized representation of a full-sized fish. I have .given Barilius 

 Canarensis, but B. Bakeri and B. gatensis are to my knowledge so 

 similar in their habits that, for angling purposes, they are practically the 

 same fish. The colouring of the Barilius Canarensis is so very brilliant 

 that paints cannot do it justice ; every colour should shine like 

 burnished metal. The Barils are a very game little fish, rising to a fly 

 with a quick dart just as a burn trout does. They are an active fish, 

 and are to be found where the stream runs briskly among rocks, to be 

 found in the stickles, and all about the edges of the deep runs. They are 

 in large rivers frequented by Mahseer, and in the very same water. In 

 fact, I was fishing for them once, and the moment I had hooked one a 

 Mahseer, recognizing that it was a fish in distress, went for it. They 

 are also to be found in the smaller streams inhabited by the Black-Spot, 



N 2 



