FISHING IN THE JHELUM. 125 



a wide and regular sweep, and their tips uninjured. Poor 

 lad ! he was not long permitted to enjoy their possession, 

 for a short time after he fell a victim to that fearful scourge 

 of India — cholera. He was a true sportsman and an ex- 

 cellent rifle-shot; and his shikaree told me he had never 

 been out with a more daring or surer-footed European crags- 

 man. One of his last wishes on his deathbed was that 

 his hunting trophies might be sent home to his father. 

 Strange to say, he had a fixed presentiment, to which he 

 often gave expression, that he should never see Almora, 

 where our regiment had been ordered to shortly before he 

 died ; and sad to say, this was fulfilled. 



Very fair fishing was to be had in the valley at certain 

 seasons in some parts of the Jhelum, both for mahseer and 

 silvery black-speckled fish, in appearance like trout, but 

 wanting the second rayless dorsal-fin of the Salmonidse. 

 The former fish were comparatively small of their kind, 

 those killed being seldom over 10 lb. or so. The latter were 

 sometimes taken up to 8 lb. or more. The minnow was 

 usually most successful for mahseer. The other fish took 

 the fly pretty freely, and the fly that seemed as good as 

 any was made simply with a bunch of white- cotton thread 

 carded out and tied on to a naked hook. But the deadliest 

 bait was a ripe mulberry, when the fruit was in season. 

 The boatmen were rather clever at spearing small fish in 

 slioal water from the bows of their boats. 



Formerly, fishing was permitted anywhere in the river, 

 but latterly it was prohibited between certain bridges in 

 the city, for, as was alleged, the following ridiculous 

 reason : — 



The story went that, after the death of the Maharajah 

 Gholab Sing, his soul was believed to have transmigrated 

 into a certain very big mahseer in one of the sacred fish- 

 tanks near Islamabad, where, with many smaller companions, 

 this holy fish was well fed and cared for by the attendant 

 Brahmin priests. One day a hungry sportsman, on his 



