470 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
stretched across a stream; two persons, one at either end, con- 
stantly jerk this rope, causing the fish to dart away towards 
nets that are fixed to entrap them. 
Snares of the most varied description are almost universally 
employed; but in some localities angling may be said to be almost 
unknown, especialiy in Orissa, or districts where wholesale 
poaching is preferred as easier and more killing. One method 
of using hooks is perhaps as cruel as could well be devised. 
A number are securely fixed, at regular intervals of about three 
inches, to a line for employment in a narrow pass in a hill-stream. 
When used, the rope is sunk from eighteen inches to two feet 
below the surface, and held by a man on either bank; others 
drive the fish towards this armed cord, and as they pass over it 
the line is jerked for the purpose of hooking the fish. In some 
places dexterity has been arrived at by constant practice, and 
many fish are then captured. The object is to hook it by its 
under surface; but, as might be supposed, although in some 
cases the hooks penetrate sufficiently deep to obtain a secure 
hold, such is by no means invariably the case. The struggles of 
the wounded creature are frequently sufficient to cause it to break 
away, often with a portion of its intestines trailing behind it. If 
its gill-covers have been injured, respiration may be wholly or 
partially impeded ; crippled, it wanders away to sicken and die in 
an emaciated state, while, should it be captured before death has 
stopped its sufferings, it is useless as food unless to the lower 
animals. Baited hooks are in some places fastened to lines, which 
are tied to bamboos fixed in the beds of rivers, or to bushes or 
posts at their edges, and so managed that when a fish is hooked 
the line runs out; or a somewhat similar plan is to have a cord 
stretched across a river, floated by gourds; to this the short lines 
which have the baited hooks are attached, but so that they are not 
long enough to reach the bottom; these are visited every few 
hours. In some districts night-lines are baited with frogs. 
Spearing fish by torchlight is extensively practised in the 
Punjab and in the Presidency of Bombay ; and they are speared 
during the daytime in the cold months of the year when they are 
not very active. Two persons usually engage in this occupation ; 
one punts the boat along as noiselessly as possible, while the 
fisherman stands at the prow, silently pointing out the direction to 
be taken, and uses his spear when he gets a chance. Shooting 
