414 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi. 



of the Mahseer, and gives the most sport. . . . Mr. Thomas appears only 

 to have fished for these fish from the bank ; a far more killing mode is to 

 troll out of a boat. Whether the Madras boatmen are capable of propelling 

 a boat up rapids I don't know, but the Carens, Burmese, and Cossyahs 

 will take a light boat up frightful rapids with perfect safety. The plan is to 

 trail your bait a good 50 yards behind the boat, and the sport is thus very 

 exciting. As Mr. Thomas justly remarks, the large Mahseer are bottom- 

 feeders and in clear streams, whilst the smaller fish can be seen swimming 

 about midstream, the small fry near the surface ; the monsters keep near 

 the bottom, so if you want big fish, fish deep. The fly is most killing in 

 shallow rapids ; a man should wade in pretty deep, and, if a practised hand, 

 he will kill many fish, but few of them will be above 10 to 14 Ibs., and 

 the greater number a good deal less. In the Dehra Dhoon, they use the 

 most gaudy flies, but where I have fished, the most killing fly was a medium 

 sized No. 4 or 5 semicircle hook, dressed like the cock-o'-the-walk as 

 described by Mr. Thomas at page 125. For smaller fish the smoky dun 

 was most killing. 



" For spinning I have found nothing equal to a large spoon. ... In the 

 waters of the Upper Burhampootra especially near Suddyah Mahseer are 

 very plentiful and run to a very large size. The best fishermen in Assam, 

 in my day, were the late Capt. Hood Robin Hood of the Field and Col. 

 Combes lo-bore of the Oriental Sporting Magazine. The latter especially 

 made very large bags, but he preferred the fly, and he has caught with 

 it, I believe, fish up to 40 Ibs. in weight, but he is the only one I ever heard 

 of performing such a feat, whilst with the spoon and dead bait they have 

 killed fish up to 70 Ibs. in weight. For some years I carried on an active 

 warfare with Farlow ; he would not make his treble hooks strong enough ; 

 at last I got him to make the hooks Mr. Thomas alludes to in his book. 

 Many a fish have I lost, and many an anathema have I hurled at Farlow's 

 head because he would not credit that a Mahseer is capable of doubling up 

 the strongest Salmon or Pike hooks. I have had the hooks straightened, 

 too, many a time, but at last we came to an understanding, and Farlow 

 is now by far the best man to go to for not only hooks, but for every descrip- 

 tion of tackle. 



" Besides the Mahseer, we used to catch what the Bengalees call Bassah, 

 and the Burmese Nga Memein. It is allied to the cat fish, and has no 

 scales ; it is delicious eating, and takes a fly or a spoon readily. This fish 

 can be caught in great numbers in the Shoayghein river ; it does not give 

 much play after being hooked. As for murrel I have seen thirteen varieties 

 exposed for sale in the market at Terriat Ghat, at the foot of the ghaut, 

 leading up to that moist place Cherrapoonghe, with its fifty feet of rainfall 

 in the year. . . . 



" My first trip towards Sylhet was in 1869, when General Blake was 

 with us. My journal of this trip is not here, so I speak from memory alone. 

 He, Ommanney, and I started in November. We went first to Nurting, 



