314 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



which flows into the Jumna through the length of the 

 Western Doon, and whose waters may be said, with 

 a little exaggeration, to roll over sands of gold. To 

 pass away the time while the tents were being pitched, 

 I strolled down to the river and sauntered beside it. 

 During the rainy season the river contains a consider- 

 able amount of water. It was now nearly dry; only 

 a small, shallow stream wandered through a wide bed 

 of sand and boulders. 



Scattered over the bed there were numerous pools 

 of water. The water which had come down from the 

 mountains was clear as crystal. In nearly all the pools 

 there were shoals of the minutest of fishes ; they were 

 so small that each alone was hardly visible. I presume 

 that they had been but just recently hatched. It was 

 most interesting to watch them : they rose, they sank, 

 they darted from side to side ; occasionally they 

 stopped suddenly in the shade and seemed to dis- 

 appear ; in a minute or so they were swimming about 

 as before. 



As I watched the little creatures, I began to speculate 

 as to their future. In the hot season most of the pools 

 would dry up, and then what would become of the 

 fishes ? Would they die, or would they burrow in the 

 sand and lie torpid, like the frogs, till the water came 

 again in the rains and revived them? The largest 

 and deepest pools might, however, remain. But then, 

 as the fishes grew, how would the water contain 

 them or supply them with food? Would the fishes 

 remain small as they were till the next rains came, 

 or devour each other, or what? 



