FISHING IN INDIAN WATERS. 117 
Dangara run very large at times, I personally have never caught one over 
27 Ibs., but I have seen them repeatedly much larger, One that was brought 
for sale by some natives on to the ship I was then Serving in weighed 
843 lbs., and another that by some mistake found its way into one of the 
dry docks in the Government Dockyard, Bombay, only last year, when a 
vessel of the Indian Marine was being undocked, and which was eventually 
caught and killed when next the dock was pumped out, weighed 61 lbs. 
Both these were extremely handsome fish. Dangara, I have come to the 
conclusion, feed best by night,and a clear moonlight night, with a quickly 
rising tide rushing into the narrow creeks and stirring up the mud, is the 
best, Onsucha night, if you are ina boat, and keep quiet, you will hear 
them all around you, breaking the surface of the water with a sullen sound- 
ing plunge, and simply wallowing along in the mud, chasing the small mud 
fish, and throwing themselves up on to the mud in a frantic endeavour to 
Seize some particularly active member. They feed, of course, in the day 
too, but the water must be thick, They have a very large, round, and 
powerful eye, and must be able to see better in the thicker water than most 
fish, and being able to see so well themselves, they use the thick and dirty 
water as a screen by means of which they can approach their prey without 
being seen, Though they live im thick and dirty water, and as a rule prey 
upon mud fish, they have no muddy flavour about themselves, and are, when 
well cooked and quite fresh, a most delicious fish for the table, Their flesh 
lies in thick, flaky strips, and is very rich, Taken all round, they are one of 
‘the best fish we have out here, both for the table and for sport, but they 
must be eaten quite fresh ; their flesh soon decomposes, and then, besides 
being soft and unpalatable, is positively unwholesome, When fishing for 
them I have at different times tried many baits—prawn, hermit crab, and 
smal] mullet—but where { could get the small mud fish, I found nothing else 
would come up to it. One need never be at a loss for them ; they are nearly 
ubiquitous, very easily caught and easily baited, and if properly put on to 
the hook they live along time. They remind one somewhat of an English 
gudgeon and their antics on the bank, as they go about on the mud with a 
curious hop, skip and a jump sort of wriggling motion, is very comical. 
Further back I have mentioned two places in the harbour as being good 
spots, The one was at the end of the groin and the other was near some 
rocky islets near the southern end of the harbour, At the first mentioned 
place (and the stranger will easily recognise it by looking for the last of the 
stone pillars which run out from the end of the groin, and which has partial- 
ly collapsed) there is some excellent sport to be had with a grey sea perch 
(Chrysophrys berda), These fish run from ? Ib, to 3 lbs, in weight, and it ig 
extraordinary at times how many can be caught in a very short time, They 
are a very decent-looking silvery-scaled fish, with a purplish hue in their - 
scales, very fair for the table, except that they have a tremendous lot of bones, 
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