[15] THE FISHEKIES OF IJJDIA. 397 



made to contract like a ijurse by means of a string that the fisherman 

 holds in his hand. 



Irrespective of the modes already detailed as in common nse for cap- 

 turing freshwater fish in India and Burma, there are a number of what 

 may be termed minor plans likewise in force. Sheets have already 

 been remarked npon as employed for taking the fry which have ascended 

 small watercourses, or are found in shallow water, while they may also 

 be used as dip-nets, being sunk in an appropriate place, and raised by 

 strings attached to the four corners, as soon as the fish have been en- 

 ticed above. Or on the bushes sheets may be jjlaced ; here the ffy 

 seek shelter from the rays of the sun, and the whole concern is lifted 

 bodily up. A little grain or bread is likewise found useful as a bait. 

 Two pieces of rattan may be employed, crossing one another in the 

 middle, where they are tied together ; the ends are then bent down- 

 wards in the form of two arches. Here a net is attached, and this the 

 fisherman i)resses down upon the fish, which are then removed by the 

 hand. In some places they may be so frightened as to permit them- 

 selves to be readily taken ; thus ropes to which at intervals are at- 

 tached bones, leaves, stalks of kurbi or jowaree, or pieces of solar (pith), 

 or small bundles of grass, are stretched across a stream ; two jjersons, 

 one at each end, constantly jerk this rope, causing the fish to dart 

 away towards nets that are fixed to entrap them. Snares of the most 

 varied descriptions are almost universally employed ; but in some local- 

 ities angling may be said to be almost unknown, especially in Orissa, 

 or districts where wholesale poaching is preferred as easier and more 

 successful. One method of using hooks is perhaps as cruel as could 

 well be devised. -A number are securely fixed, at regular intervals of 

 about 3 inches, to a line for employment in a narrow pass in a hill 

 stream. When used, the rope is sunk from 18 inches to 2 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 game. In some ijlaces dexterity has been 

 arrived at by constant practice, and many fish are thus captured. The 

 desire is to hook the game by its under surface, but, as might be sup- 

 posed, 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 frequently are sufficient to allow 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 i^artially 

 impeded ; crippled, it wanders away to sicken and die in an emaciated 

 state, while, should it be captured before death has stopped its suffer- 

 ings, 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 



