CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 395 



enough ; they prefer, therefore, a two-handed rod and tackle to match. 

 This, as I say, is not necessary in a small river. A Mahseer's first rush set 

 down takes him out of the pool he lives in, but big or little rod is a matter 

 of taste about which, proverbially, * it is not meet to be disputed.' 



" Anyhow, the fishing in this river is right good for anyone who is con- 

 tented with less than monsters, and a month's leave could most pleasantly 

 and profitably be spent here by any fisherman happening to be stationed in 

 or visiting Upper Burma, who has no good river nearer him ; nor is this 

 the only river in the Bhamo district which holds fish to be caught. There 

 are many all about the Kachin hills. This, however, is the best I know 

 comfortably get-at-able in a short time. 



"There is no shooting here in the near neighbourhood, as the hills 

 around are covered with jungle thick as the 'lush and lusty grass' in a 

 hayfield at home before mowing time. A very lucky persevering gunner 

 might get a shot at a panther, sambhur or barking deer, or even a tiger, for 

 they are all about the place, as their tracks here and there by the riverside 

 testify. I have shot a jungle fowl and quail or two, and two partridges of 

 the sort called by Hume and Marshall * Indo-Chinese Bamboo,' I think. 

 But the fishing is the thing ; it is worth all the physic in the world, and 

 almost makes up for the want of society to the solitary man stationed here. 

 Long live Barbus Tor ! May he increase and multiply, and die game when 

 his time comes. "EARTHWORM." 



BENGAL. 

 Extract from the " The Field" of gth October, 1869. 



" Having had some excellent sport, Mahseer fishing, in the previous 

 years, A. and I determined upon seeing what the capabilities of the Poonch 

 river really were. A trip of this kind of course requires considerable pre- 

 paration in a country away from tackle-makers, and where gut rots almost 

 as soon as it arrives. Strong lines also are absolutely necessary ; they must 

 be two hundred yards long, and have a reel capable of holding that length. 

 We knew by experience how fatal these monsters were to tackle even 

 treble gut and to hooks, which they managed to break, bend, or straighten 

 in a most mysterious * way. 



"We were prepared and equipped for a start on March ist, 1867, and 

 had our Murree cart at the door for our sixty-mile drive, which we accom- 

 plished in five hours. These carts reflect great credit on Mr. Faichnie, 

 Inspector of H.M.'s Mail at Rawul Pindee, who invented them. They have 

 four seats, back to back, fore and aft, placed just above the axle-tree. The 

 shafts run through the whole length of the cart, which is substantially built, 

 and has the centre of gravity so low that it would be next to an impossibility 

 to overturn it. Two horses are always used, one in the shafts and the other 



* See remarks on compression, pages 48, 52, 270. 



