CHAP. xv. Batchwa Flies. 223 



2 Qth May, two rods, Mr. Cyril Kirkpatrick and Mr. Aldwell, caught in 

 one afternoon 163, running about one pound each more or less. That 

 is about 80 Ibs. each in a short Indian afternoon with no lengthening 

 English twilight. You can hardly wish for anything much better. 



Generally the fishing is at the surface, using no sinker with your 

 spinning bait. Only when the Batchwa do not show at the surface 

 should you fish three or four feet deep. Always spin in the rough 

 water and against the stream. When fly-fishing, if you cannot reach 

 them let the stream carry out your line till you can. They will not 

 take it going down, only when pulling it up, and they strike themselves 

 excellently. 



After catching half-a-dozen or so examine your gut, as their teeth 

 are sharp and fray it, says my friend. This seems very troublesome, 

 and a very short life for a fly on gut. It suggests the idea of having a 

 few flies for Batchwa tied on No. 5/0 wire gimp. But it is a new 

 departure, and I am bound to tell you I have not tried it, as I have 

 everything else I recommend. It is merely a suggestion, for you to 

 experiment with or not as you fancy. Be plucky and try it on a few, as 

 I am in England and cannot try it for you ; and have the rest of your 

 order tied on eyed hooks, and attach them yourself with a short snood 

 of No. 5/0 wire gimp, or ask your tackle-man to so attach them for you,, 

 and if, on trial, you do not like the wire gimp, you can snip it off and 

 revert to short-lived gut snoods. 



As the right way to lay hold of a pike is with a finger and a thumb 

 in each eye, so the right way to handle a Batchwa, Cherki, or Tengara 

 is with his head in your palm. 



For those who like to distinguish between the Batchwa and the 

 Cherki I append the usual epitomized formulae taken from Dr. Day's 

 " Fishes of India." 



Pseudeutropius gama. B. vi., D. y , P. i/n, V. 6, A. 29-36 ( ao j )> 

 C. 17. Found generally throughout the larger rivers of Sind, India, Assam, 

 and Burmah. Attains upwards of two feet in .length. Punia buchua^ 

 (Dorian ; Puttosi, Beng. ; Buchua, Hind. ; Dhong-ga-nu, Sind ; (Kocha> 

 Teesta, H.B.). 



P. murius. B. v., D. y /o, P. i/io, V. 6, A. 38-43 ( 3 -^), C. 17. 



Muri-vacha, Ooriah and Bengali ; Matusi, Beng. ; Buchua, Hind. ; 

 Ke-raad, Punj. ; Chhotkd vdchoyd, of the Kusi (H.B.). 



Habitat: Rivers of Sind, Orissa, the Jumna, and rivers of Bengal and 

 Assam, attaining about six or eight inches in length. 



