958 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVII. 



of these is a very delicate matter and more especially the one we write of— 

 Barbus heaagonolepis is here an almost strict vegetarian, though we have at 

 times noticed him rising freely at a tiny yellowish midge and he will at very 

 rare intervals rush at a small fly spoon, the conclusion we have arrived at is 

 that this last is out of mere curiosity. 



Fish of this species, actually weighed by ourselves, run to six pounds though 

 there is httle doubt that they run to double this weight, the same being borne 

 out by Native confirmation. After this preamble it is best to come to the mode of 

 capture, which by the way is no easy task so much so that the usual un- 

 observant European says " Oh there are no fish in the Daigurung ". This I saw 

 to be an utter fallacy the first day of my arrival, though I must admit it has 

 taken me the best part of two seasons to get even with our friend. 



4jifjji.rPTn 



1. Assamese method of binding petals . 



2. Our method of tying petals. 



Having ascertained, through Assamese ryots who fish for this wary caip, that 

 his favourite food was the white petal of the Bauhinia purpurea, Camei-foot 

 tree, (which comes into flower in early October and continues in bloom till about 

 the end of November) taken while floating on the surface of the water, irrespec- 

 tive of how discoloured that may be provided the stream is not in spate, I 

 asked the Assamese to show me their tackle and to demonstrate their method 

 of using the same. Their rod is the usual Indian light bamboo, the line 12 to 

 1.5 feet of stout moongha silk, hook a No. 6 Limerick, their method of binding 

 petals to the hook is a crude one and not as efficient as might be, see diagrams 

 Nos. 1 and 2 ; reels and such like adjuncts they know not and care less for. I 

 noticed as soon as I saw the tackle in use that one of the great drawbacks to 

 the Assamese outfit was the want of a floating cast, as the moment the flower 

 shows the least sign of drag, the fish is off like a twopenny rocket. 



Now during the rams I pondered these things over, and my brother and I 

 devised a tackle which we proved conclusively in the verandah to be the most 

 deadly used on this most sacred river, so much so that we showed each other with 

 great glee how not a fish could possibly escape ; how they did, and do, we will 

 now proceed to explain with the help of further diagrams, trusting that all 

 brothers of the rod will read, mark, learn an(f inwardly digest in case they 

 should ever find themselves situated in a spot where similar waters flow. 

 If the following points, which have actually been observed by ourselves on the 

 spot, be carefully noted it will not be difficult to reahze how this fish, in taking 

 the bait, e fleets a seemingly miraculous escape. Firstly regarding the fish, the 



