Chapt. ii. My Mahseer drag. 15 



pass the running line through this tube just as if it was 

 one of the rings, using if necessary a baiting needle for 

 the purpose. When no hand is on this tube of leather 

 it interferes in no way with the free passage of the line; 

 but when you want to put the drag on, grasp the rod 

 with one hand at the place where you have tied this 

 tube, and at the same time pass alternate fingers above 

 and below the tube, or say three below and the middle 

 finger above, and you will find that by gently tightening 

 and slackening the grasp of the one finger on the tube 

 you have a complete command over the line, being able 

 with ease readily to regulate the exact amount of strain 

 you may wish to put upon the line, and with very little 

 exertion to stop it altogether. If this leather tube, which 

 I shall call my mahseer drag, is controlled by the left 

 hand, the right hand is left free for the winch. It is 

 possible that such a drag might be injurious by its fric- 

 tion to India rubber coated silk lines, but I use the 

 kyanized lines of the Manchester cotton twine spinning 

 company, of which more in the right place. To such 

 lines the friction of the leather can do no harm; at worst 

 the line can only cut the leather, but as that is only worth 

 about 2 annas it can be readily replaced. 



Different men kill their fish differently, some taking 

 twice as much time about it as others. My preference 

 is for having my fish out of the water as soon as safely 

 may be. Brute force I have admitted is out of the ques- 

 tion, but short of that I am for putting on all the strain 

 the rod and tackle is calculated to bear, and keeping it 



