402 REPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [20] 



paucity of the supply aud the cost of the article. In Sind flsli is gen- ' 

 erally eaten by the iDopulation of the province, whether Mussulman oi ' 

 Hindu, except the Brahmans. In the northwest provinces, containing 

 about 28,000,000 of population, out of twenty returns received from native i 

 officials seventeen give more than half of the people as not forbidden ! 

 by religious scruples to eat fish. In Oudh, the majority of the peo- 

 ple ai:)pear to eat fish, but the supply is unequal to the demand. In 

 the Bombay Presidency, the majority of the inhabitants of the inland 

 districts are consumers of fish when they can procure it. In Haidara- 

 bad, Mysore, and Coorg, more than half the population are fish consum- 

 ers; in South Oanara, 89 per cent: in Madras, the majority, the ex- 

 ceptions being Brahmans, goldsmiths, high-caste Sudras, the followers 

 of Siva, Jains, &c. In Orissa, mor^i than half the people ; in Bengaj 

 proper, from 90 to 95 per cent; in Assam and Chittagong, almost the 

 entire population; and in Burma, in the form of ngapee its use is uni- 

 versal. 



As Buddhists, the Burmese profess a religious horror at the taking 

 of the lives of lower animals, but being immoderately fond of fish diet, 

 they console their consciences (wliile indulging in it) with the idea that 

 the deaths of those animals used by them as food must be laid to the 

 account of the fishermen, and cannot in any way be attributed to the , 

 consumer's fault. The walls of their temples have pictures of the ter- ' 

 rible tortures the fishermen will have to endure in a future state of ex- 

 istence. In some of these interesting representations are large fires 

 being stirred up by devils, while other evil spirits are dragging more 

 fishermen in nets towards the burning, fiery furnace, helping on some by 

 striking fishspears into them from behind, and hauling them forward 

 by hooks and lines towards the place of punishment. 



But, it may be asked, are these ponghees' (priests') practices in ac- 

 cord with their teachings'? By no means, as the following example 

 will show. At Yahdown, on the banks of a branch of the Irawadi, 

 a fisherman (Een Thoogye) built a Kyoiing, or monastery, as his great 

 hope was to be termetl a Kyoung taga, or founder of a monastery, a 

 highly prized title amongst the Burmese. Ponghees came, and pon- 

 ghees went away, but they did not care to remain and partake for any 

 lengthened period of the hospitalities of their host aud disciple. At 

 last one old priest aijpeared, who seemed to consider the quarters as 

 desirable. To him, in great trepidation, the owner put the following 

 question, "Why, my father, do not the ponghees approve of my mon- 

 astery, for none but yourself have remained over the going down of t 

 two sums ? " "Because, my son," replied the holy man, "do you not break * 

 the law by depriving fish of life'?" " True," he answered, "but were I ^ 

 riot to do so, how could I supply your table with fish, or how could I 

 live were I to give uji my employment?" The only reply he could ob-^ 

 tain was, "Better to fast while keeping the law, than to feast while 

 breaking it," 



