90 Carpe diem, a carp a day. Chapt. vi. 



often troubled in that way in India, for the climate is not so 

 variable, you are sure of fine weather for months together, 

 and you are fairly sure of taking fish. Then's your time, 

 carpe diem, for you will get a carp a day, or rather sev- 

 eral Mahseer. You must not therefore mind the one draw- 

 hack of your sport being spoilt by discolored water, be- 

 cause it almost always occurs during fixed periods which 

 you can calculate on beforehand, and during the months 

 which I have named, it only troubles you once for about a 

 fortnight in the end of October, or beginning of November, 

 when the rice fields are being reploughed for the second 

 crop, and the muddy water from them is allowed to run 

 into and discolor the river. Where there is a large area 

 under rice on the banks of a river, the discoloration may 

 last as long as a month from first to last ; but where the 

 river runs through forest only, you will be quite free from 

 this nuisance. From October to April then inclusive may, 

 as a rule, be counted on as good fishing months' in all 

 rivers which are fed by the south-west monsoon. I have 

 found it the same not only in the rivers which run into 

 the sea westwards, but also in rivers that have their heads 

 near the Western Ghauts, and run away from them to the 

 east through Mysore. 



What may be the exact months in those rivers that 

 are under the influence of the east coast monsoon I can- 

 not say precisely, but I have little doubt that the same 

 rule may be safely followed, namely that they are fit only 

 when they are clear; and the dwellers beside those rivers 

 know these times more exactly than I can tell them. 



