220 The- Seeing Batchwa and Others. CHAP. xv. 



sigh of contentment : " A feeling of comfortable repletion, combined 

 with partial intoxication ! " 



I have known them taken on a spoon too, and when I was at 

 Narora in mid-April they took best in the evening. 



" Meade Shell," tells me they are to.be taken at Okhla also, and 

 grow to 80 Ibs. He adds : " It takes worm bait freely and can also be 

 taken with ,a leech. I should say it even grew to 4 or 5 ft. in length. 

 It has a habit of coming to the top of the water, and slowly turning 

 over, and exposing almost its whole length. When it has deposited 

 eggs it will sometimes give a native a sharp nip when bathing, should 

 he come too near the eggs." 



Mr. Welborne in the Asian of 3oth March, 1880, says he is told it 

 attains a weight of about 40 Ibs. but the average size they are caught by 

 the Dhooms in their nets, would be probably about i81bs. 



Dr. Day says " it attains at least 4 ft. in length," and inhabits " the 

 freshwaters of Sind, Lower Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Burmah and Siam to 

 the Malay Archipelago." 



Dr. Hamilton Buchanan says of it : " The belly is uncommonly rich 

 and well-flavoured, but the back contains numerous small bones," and 

 Mr. Welborne writes : " It is not usually thought much of for the table 

 by Europeans, but the natives think highly of it, and I think they are 

 right, for I know nothing better in the fish line than the thin or belly 

 part of this fish fried ; the back or thick part I will admit to be uneat- 

 able. The thin part, when in condition, is covered with fat and very 

 rich and tasty." 



A well-known angler writes me, I believe in all gravity : " The 

 Mohi can wriggle backwards with sufficient force to draw out a few 

 yards of line while gazing reproachfully at you, head on. He is the 

 only beast I know who can do this, and he looks rather uncanny during 

 the performance." 



N.B. The writer is a police officer, and the police you know 

 prefer that one should come along quietly and not make faces. So 

 take your pinch of Attic salt with this ! 



Its formula, taken from Dr. Day's " Fishes of India," is : 



B. viii.-ix., D. 9-10 (!), P. 16, V. 6, A. 110-125 (135). C. 12-14, L.I. 

 1 80. Caec. pyl., 2. 



