254 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



buy for a few pice." This was my friend's idea of 

 duck-shooting and all its attendant pleasures. 

 Would I like to see how duck were trapped by the 

 natives ? Of course I would, so the village thaliarree 

 (watchman) was sent for, and directed to engage 

 some bestars (fisherman) to show the Sahib some wild- 

 duck trapping. 



There were numerous large tanks in the neigh- 

 bourhood, which served to irrigate the extensive 

 rice-fields for which this district is famous, and 

 these tanks were the resort of numerous flocks of 

 wild duck at certain seasons of the year. The 

 bestars are expert fishermen and takers of water- 

 fowl of all kinds, and have several very ingenious 

 methods of trapping ducks. These birds generally 

 frequent the shallow water near the margin of 

 tanks, as here aquatic plants are most abundant, 

 and among them they find the small shell-fish and 

 fry of fish on which they live. Having sighted a 

 flock of wild duck the bestar gets a large earthen pot 

 such as natives use for carrying water. The mouth 

 of the pot must be sufficiently large to admit his 

 head, and in the sides of the pot he knocks two little 

 holes to see out of. Inserting his head into the pot 

 until the rim rests on his shoulders, he wades into 

 the water neck-deep, or crouches down until only 

 the pot is seen above water. The little holes in 

 the sides admit fresh air, and permit him to see. In 

 this fashion he gently moves along in the direction 

 of the flock of ducks. In order to accustom the 

 ducks to the appearance of the pot, several pots 

 mouth down have been previously placed among 



