CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 47 



" Here in August, September, and a part of October, good fish are to be 

 taken, up to 8 Ibs., at any rate, though larger are in the waters, and may be 

 got by spinning. I once saw a fish certainly over 30 Ibs. in this stream, 

 but nothing would tempt him. 



" All down the Song the fishing till October is good, but after that there 

 is but little water in it, and, indeed, it almost dries up altogether. 



" The Sooswa flows past Kansaras, a place once famous for all kinds of 

 game, but now its glory has departed. Fine Trout and Mahseer fishing is 

 to be had all down the Sooswa, and where the Song and Sooswa join is a 

 splendid pool with heavy fish. 



"Jamun Khatta, below the junction, is well worth staying at. Good 

 Trout and good Mahseer, and plenty of them. Down the river some few 

 miles, you get to the junction of the Sooswa and Ganges, and here are 

 splendid fish, as large as any river in India can furnish ; but here spinning 

 pays best. 



"Up near the hills, where the Ganges leaves the Himalayas, is 

 Tuppobun, with its splendid scenery and grand pools. Lower down, 

 Rickee Khase, with equally good water, and so on, till you come to 

 Hurdwar, with its ' Myapore Bridge,' the * Bund,' and * Dam,' all well- 

 known ground. 



" The fish, though, are getting more and more shy, and it is not always 

 that a ' bag ' is to be made. Under the Myapore Bridge, hundreds of 

 swallows have their nests, and many a large fish has been caught with a 

 swallow, or rather martin (as I believe they are) tied on to a hook, and used 

 as a bait. 



" I rigged up a very large hook in imitation of a swallow, and tried it 

 years ago, but only bagged one fish. They do not seem to take freely now. 

 The 'escape' (I called it the ' Dam') is a fine piece of trolling water, but 

 one has to be careful spinning, as there are ' snags,' or were I speak of 

 days long ago. 



" Below Hurdwar is Kunkhal, but unless the escape is open, few fish will 

 be risen, though lower down the pools deepen, and just above the bridge of 

 boats at Jheesumwalla Ghat, in one morning before breakfast, I happily 

 landed two fish over 20 Ibs. each, and three others, none under 10 Ibs. ; a 

 good morning's work ! 



" Lower still, down towards Asufgurh, one day's bag reached 146 Ibs., 

 the best fish weighing 27! Ibs. This water is splendid fishing, and once 

 again may I tread its banks. Further down yet Mahseer are to be got, 

 but only one ever rewarded my efforts with fly. Bait fishing must be 

 resorted to. The places to fish are the ' Kooties.' Fakirs build themselves 

 small habitations on the Ganges, and they generally wash their grain in 

 the river, even if they do not throw the remnants of their dinner into 

 it ; but often they feed the fish, and a hook baited with atta is sure to 

 give sport. 



" But at the Ghat, over the Ganges between Bijpore " (or should it be 



