630 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



not so extensively resorted to as in the rains, it nevertheless does proceed 

 uninterruptedly for 12 months. The wonder, therefore, is that there are, 

 after all these years, any fish left all. I have already shown that in one Creek, 

 within my knowledge, the diminution appeared to me to be very considerable 

 and that in others, notwithstanding the well known prolific character of fish, 

 there is a decided diminution, which must moreover be proceeding in geome- 

 trical progression. There is a spot on the Revdanda Creek, about 6 miles 

 below the Taluka Town of Roha, which was once and is even now famous 

 for " Rawas" and " Jetara " ( " Bamin" and " Nair " fish). I visited this spot 

 three times at the right moments in order to see them on the feed, a procedure 

 which, when they are plentiful, is, we find in " Thomas' Rod," a remarkable 

 sight. On one of these three occasions my wife and I saw two fish. We 

 caught nothing, and further comment seems hardly necessary. It will not 

 surprise some of my listeners here and readers hereafter, when I state that 

 almost everywhere the " Kolis " of Kolaba, when approached on the topic, have 

 a pleasing method of transferring all responsibility in the growing failure of 

 the supply from their own immediate shoulders to that of their Creator, 

 and that in some aggravated examples they do not scruple to hold the "British 

 Raj " itself responsible for this evil ! The process of reasoning in both 

 cases may, in the circumstances, be said to be more than usually obscure. 

 IV. — Catalogue of Creek Fish. 

 I have been at some pains to try to ascertain the precise species that live 

 in the Konkan Creeks, as far as can be said, permanently, and those that visit 

 them only from time to time. In this matter, much assistance has naturally 

 been secured from Day's Fishes of India, kindly lent to me by our Society, as 

 also from Mr. Sinclair's excellent local article in the Kolaba Gazetteer, which 

 if not exhaustive, I beg leave to refer to in respectful and appreciative terms. 

 It was not my original intention to try to give a complete list of fish, but as my 

 interest in the subject deepened, I have devoted more and more time to try to 

 make it so. A complete list is hardly necessary perhaps for my present pur- 

 poses, in that what is desired is a list of the larger edible fish, on the sustained 

 supply of which, the creek fishing industry— not to mention the consumer — is 

 actually dependent. Nor is it necessary to enter into a minute scientific 

 definition of each of the specimens I have before you. They have been identi- 

 fied, and what is wanted is information regarding them, showing more particu- 

 larly what I have been able to learn as to their suitability as food, and the size 

 they at; ain when mature. For, after all, these are the only two factors of 

 importance from the fishing industrial standpoint. My list of the large fish is, 

 it is believed, almost complete and that of the smaller may be three quarters 

 so. Some day I hope to make both absolutely complete. As a matter of fact, 

 both the large and the small fish are ain ost all edible and some are most 

 highly esteemed. As many as twelve species are commonly found at the 

 dinner tables of the European residents of Bombay ; the several varieties 

 of Muyil and Polynemus are perhaps the most highly esteemed. My statement 



