A WATER-HOOPOO. 135 



the fish or recover the weapon. When an extra 

 large fish is thus struck, it takes several men and 

 much play before it is landed. 



When the nets approach shallow water, several 

 Jhoras enter within the circle of nets and skilfully 

 scooping out the fish with their hands, fling them 

 on to the shore ; here others are ready with battle- 

 axes, and a blow on the head stops all floundering. 

 Fish of from ten to fifteen pounds in weight are thus 

 thrown out and dispatched. A great number also 

 are entangled in the nets, and these are killed with 

 a blow from a club. When it is thought that all the 

 fish over a span long have been secured, the women 

 and children are allowed to enter the water and 

 take what they can get. And now ensues a scene 

 of laughter and mirth. Women armed with baskets, 

 others with portions of their clothes used as nets, 

 others again with pieces of mats, rush pell-mell 

 into the water, shouting and screaming, laughing 

 and tumbling, yet still with an eye to business. 

 Soon the pond is cleared of even its tiniest occu- 

 pant ; and now begins the division of the spoil. 



Immemorial custom has decided that the headman 

 shall get a sixteenth. One-half goes to the Jhoras 

 taking part in the hunt, and one-fourth to the 

 villagers (cultivators and others) present. A six- 

 teenth goes to the owners of the nets and canoes ; 

 another sixteenth to the zemindar in this case 

 the Takoor of Anandapore ; and the remaining 

 sixteenth is taken by the priests. 



It is easy to calculate the catch. I had the 

 curiosity to weigh the share of the headman. This 



