320 JO URNAL, B 0MB A Y NATURAL HIST. SO CIETY, Vol. XXI V. 



springs which are below 60°, In them eggs will hatch and healthy fish 

 emerge : but directly the April sun heats the water they drop into the Beas, 

 Now this is not sound fishculture. The Beas is a howling torrent in the 

 rains, and a very heavy river as soon as the snow melts in April. It is 

 moreover filling rapidly with large trout only too anxious to pounce upon a 

 bewildered youngster. The object of the fishculturist should be to have as 

 many fry as possible in little brooks and runners fed by springs with a 

 maximum temperature of 60° (or better still 50°) F. right through to 

 September. Such water we have in the Katrain brook : and again in brooks 

 marked N. in the Map all in or above Reach III. These abound in water 

 plants harbouring e?i^oTOosirffca and "plankton'' of many kinds — some of 

 which are in my bottles of "mixed pickles." The richness of this 

 " plankton" is proved by the fact that fry in these nurseries grow nearly 

 twice as fast as fry reared in captivity : and they remain in the nurseries 

 till the end of the summer and sometimes for a second summer. I have 

 been prolix on the subject of nurseries : but make no apology, for the first 

 great truth of fishculture is — take cake of the fry and the fish will 

 TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES. To that end WO have expended pains on 

 " improving " our Nurseries in several ways, viz. : — 



^. — By planting additional water-cress where weed was scarce. 



ii. — By admitting snow water into such springs as showed symptoms 

 of overheating. 



iii. — -By blocking up the outfall of one — the Choir Brook — and turning 

 the brook into an old course which gives almost a mile of 

 additional flow, and easy access from the Beas. 

 We have thus secured nurseries suflicient to rear many millions of trout- 

 lets every year ; in which they are moreover fairly safe from marauders. 



With what Enemies will the " European settler " in the Beas have to 

 contend ? 



Enemies to Fish. 



I. Poachers. — Homo sapiens (?) in the Inner Hills has not yet developed 

 much ingenuity in the gentle art of destroying fish simply because he has 

 no knowledge of species sufliciently toothsome to inspire him. At present 

 he " fishes fair " for the most part with a casting net. A heavy spate drives 

 trout to the banks to seek for the surface food washed in by the rain, and 

 at such times they can be taken easily enough with a casting net. But 

 unless the water is well coloured experiment shows that trout are much too 

 quick for the most skilful netsman, and they generally lie in heavy water 

 where a net must carry away. There will be little difliculty in preventing 

 netting in the reaches reserved for anglers. That fish poaching will sooner 

 or later attract Kulu men — once they have acquired a taste for trout — goes 

 without saying. But that time is not yet. The main danger will be poison- 

 ing and diversion of the Nursery streams. 



II. Fish. — The old trout themselves will no doubt take toll of their pro- 

 geny. But barbel are always to be had, and much more easily caught than 

 trout, and I believe with Mr. Mitchell that trout do not as a rule take the 

 trouble to hunt down their own species except in default of other fish diet. 

 At any rate autopsies on fish caught in the river have disclosed so far only 

 one wild troutlet as a victim to cannibalism in Kulu. 



III. Otters. [Lutra leptony.v) — A greatly exaggerated evil. I have 

 watched an Otter at work for hours (without his knowing it) from a point 

 where every motion was visible. He fished hard the whole time, and caught 

 nothing in a pool full of fish. I agree with Mr. Armistead that an Otter 

 lives on many things besides fish ; that it is only on confined waters like a 

 stock pond that he does loholesale damage to fish, and in my heart I do not 



