400 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. [18] 



which these monsters resort during the dry season, and a short time 

 prior to my visit they had sUceeded in carying off five adult human 

 beings ; while near the Baropa weir two women and one horse were taken 

 by crocodiles in a single month. 



Otters are likewise very destructive, especially in the hilly districts, 

 and when they have exhausted the fish they turn their attention to the 

 frogs. In fact, the large frogs, Rana tigrina, are evidently considered 

 great delicacies by these animals, for when kept domesticated they 

 even seem to prefer them to fish. In some rivers, as the Ganges and 

 Indus, the i)orpoise, Platanista, is a great fish consumer. 



When mentioning animals which compete with man in destroying 

 fishes, there are some families that must not be omitted, although I xjro- 

 pose only casually to allude to them. Birds which eat fish are exceed- 

 ingly numerous, not only in the true swimming and wading forms, but 

 even the Indian pewit may be observed during the dry months, taking 

 its share of the smaller examples of the finny tribe which are more 

 or less exposed to view in the drying-up })ools. Snakes luxuriate in 

 irrigation canals and revel in luxury at the bases of the larger weirs. 

 In that across the Coleroon, when the water was low, I was plainly able 

 to see these reptiles lying in wait for the fishes attempting to ascend. I 

 should suppose I never saw less than twenty any evening I examined this 

 weir on its down-stream race. Tortoises and turtles are fish consumers ; 

 while most fishes prey upon their weaker neighbors or their eggs. 

 Near Ganjam, a native official informed me that he had ventured out 

 one night to see how murrul, the walking-fishes, were captured. The 

 fisherman was provided with a long flexible bamboo as a rod, and as a 

 bait used a live frog. Hardly had the frog splashed into the water 

 when a moderate-sized murrul seized and swallowed it. Desirous of 

 observing what would next occur, the fish was left on the hook, as a 

 bait for anything else. Beforfe long a large water-snake was seen 

 swimming towards it, and soon had the fish inclosed in its capacious 

 jaws, and in this fashion all three were'pulled together out of the water. 

 Frogs appear to relish fish-eggs, and to be by no means adverse to 

 devouring the fry occasionally. 



Legislative protection offish. — Considerable discussion arose upon this 

 subject in India, some high officials suggesting that a falling-off in the 

 quantity of freshwater fish is no reason for legislative interference, un- 

 less it could be demonstrated that a danger of annihilation existed. 

 The viceroy summed up the question in the following suggestive sen- 

 tences: "Is the present plan of non-interference likely to insure to 

 future generations the fullest possible supply of this food staple % Is it 

 even such as to insure their inheriting a supply equal to that which now 

 exists. The governor- general in council apprehends that both these 

 questions must be answered in the negative, and not only is there no 

 prospect, as matters now stand, or of an increased supply hereafter, but 



