CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. "409 



November 27th, got 3, Ibs. 29, 29, 62. 



28th, 8, 16, 54, 20, 33, 7,* 32, 33, 26. 



29th, ,, 2, 28, 26. 



,, 3oth, ,, i, ,, 28, tried new water again. 

 December 1st, ,, I, ,, 21. 



" Of course, besides these fish, I lost several, of which I kept no account. 

 I got them all trolling with spoons 4 inches long. I tried the fly, but 

 without success. 



"The river is called the Punateet, and runs out of the Khasia Hills at 

 Laour. To get to it, you have to branch off at Soonamgunge (on the 

 Soormah) and go by boat to a village called Elamgao, here you can get 

 dingies and boatmen to take you up the gorge where you must rough it in a 

 grass hut. It is a beastly unhealthy place. Every time I go there, all my 

 servants are knocked over with fever. I got it. once myself, but on that 

 occasion I was there for six weeks." 



Extract from the "Asian" of 2$th May, 1880. 

 " Fishing from the Simoor Territory to the Nepal Boundary. 



" I have fished all the rivers in this tract, except the Sarda, which is the 

 Nepal boundary. 



"To begin : On the west, there is the Bata stream" (query Giri) "that 

 runs from below Nahan to join the Jumna at Bata ; about I mile from the 

 junction up stream are two holes that used to be capital fly-fishing places. 



1 have known 80 fish taken with a single rod in one day out of these two 

 holes. My largest take from there was 36 fish, but I only tried for the 

 larger ones. I once saw a 6 Ib. Mahseer caught there with atta, but from 



2 ozs. to 2 Ibs. is the usual thing with fly, and both Mahseer and trout are 

 caught. The trout (so called) is also a species of carp, but he is a very 

 game, handsome fish ; occasionally fish of other sorts are caught that look 

 like roach. 



" We used to have our fancy flies, but I am of opinion that Indian fish 

 generally take a fly in mistake for a young fish or fry ; I say generally, as I 

 have seen them taking an insect often such as locusts, larva of insects, and 

 flying ants. 



" Red and black palmers are favourites, and a sort of red palmer with a 

 tail is my especial. He is made of a single hackle feather of the jungle- 

 fowl or red game ; that and a black one and a fly with white body, dirty 

 yellow tail, and florican or houbara wing. 



* "I never saw a Mahseer like this before. Back and fins perfectly black, a 

 game little head, and very thick through. He astonished me, as before weighing 

 him I took him for a fish of about 4 Ibs. He fought like a little devil, and showed as 

 great a disinclination to be landed as other fish of 12 or 15 Ibs. L. J." 



