40 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
life at the risk of their own. There is pleasure, too, 
in the knowledge that the devotion of man or beast, 
of orderly and mahout, of elephant, of horse, or of 
dog, can only be won by personal influence and kind- 
ness, and that without these neither the forester nor 
the solitary sportsman could hope to be successful. 
One of the most charming spots in the Bahraich 
forests is on the Girwa River, which can now be 
reached by train from Motipur. A widespreading, 
swift and clear stream runs over boulders, and it is 
not for a mile or more below Katenia Ghat that 
sand-banks make their appearance. This is a great 
river for mahseer, which here attain their largest 
size; but on account of the swiftness and depth of 
the current it is difficult to fish, and almost im- 
possible without the aid of a boat with skilled 
paddlers. The natives, however, succeed in catching 
mahseer from the bank, using chiefly a large prawn 
as a bait, with a weight tied some three feet above 
the hook. They hurl this apparatus far into the 
stream, and when in luck play the fish by hand, 
a long line being necessary on account of the 
strength of the fish when aided by the heavy water. 
It is, however, better to proceed upstream, where the 
river passes from Nepal and flows between wooded 
islands in various smaller channels which can be 
negotiated from their banks. Success in any case 
depends on clear water and skies, and even more so 
on the absence of poachers, who in these days do not 
tolerate the delay incidental to poisoning the pools, 
but use dynamite cartridges to produce an im- 
mediate result. 
At the foot of the hills is a lake called Shishapani, 
