CHAP. xxvi. , Northern India. 411 



thread to a forked stick, and all is ready, the snooding allowing the bait to 

 lay down stream. The fish when taking the bait has to break the thread 

 before he can run, and that hooks him, and he is left to play himself, as 

 most fish are caught in this way at night. 



" Fish may be caught with atta in the Ganges readily, Mahseer generally, 

 but at times another fish, something like a cross between a Sauli and a 

 Goonch, is to be had. I saw 'Mountaineer' catch three at Rikhikare. 

 Trout can be taken with fly and Mahseer also. Trout in all rivers like a 

 muddy bottom. One year I saw the Ganges dry opposite a village, except 

 in the pools, and I had great success with the fly. Mahseer are caught by 

 the natives as far down as Nagal Ghat, and I had one a short distance 



above that place. 



****** 



" The Ramgunga I have fished a good deal. The largest taken in that 

 river by me with fly, is 5 Ibs., and the largest when trolling, 29 Ibs. I wrote 

 to your paper at the beginning of the season to say that fish had been killed, 

 now there are a plentiful supply of young, but nothing over 8 Ibs. has been 

 killed this year with the rod and line as far as I know, but I saw a few big 

 fish in one hole. I had a fine morning last month at the smaller fish with 

 fly. There were shoals of the small climbing fish going up the river, similar 

 to those seen on the bank at Myapur ; they are brown above, and white 

 beneath. I put on a home-made fly of these colours, and got 13 fish 

 weighing 23 Ibs. in a short time ; this I consider very good with the fly. I 

 lost a long time with the first fish, as when hooked a large Goonch and a 

 huge Mahseer ran at him in turns, but he was about I Ib. in weight, and the 

 water very rapid, and they made a mess of him, never getting a fair hold. 

 I don't suppose I could have done much, if either had hooked themselves, 

 as I had only a light trout rod and fine tackle. I have made some other 

 good bags, but none so heavy in proportion. A native boy taught me how 

 to catch Sauli the other day, and we bagged 18 in about one hour. I could 

 not see that my fine tackle had any advantage over his coarser line. The 

 plan is to bait with a bit of meat, and lower the bait to the bottom, near a 

 weed, and sit still until the fish runs away, then strike, and out with him. 

 The fun was so fast, that I did not even open a sketch-book I took out with 

 me. The fish were of two kinds, one a very ugly big-headed beast, of a 

 uniform dirty olive-green colour, with the two side fins barred brown and 

 black ; the other a mottled chap with not so large a head. Both have the 

 fin extending from the vent round the tail to the shoulder, and they are very 

 good eating ; they were all small. Next time I will try for bigger ones in 

 deeper water ; they have large mouths with strong erect teeth, and often 

 dropped off the hook when landed. 



" The Kosi is a good river for fish, but bad for fishing, as contracts are 

 given yearly to the natives to poach it. There are man}'- other small 

 streams with large holes in them, that have good fly fishing with light 

 tackle. The Commissioner's Hole at Ramnagur, on the Kosi, is a good 



