126 Murrel shooting. Chapt. ix. 



and Dr. Day, in his "Catalogue of Indian Fresh Water 

 Fishes", bears witness to their demonstrations of discom- 

 fort in clear water in aquariums, and their practice of 

 stirring up all the sediment therein, and exuding a quantity 

 of mucus, and thereon looking delighted. This may he the 

 result of their habits of concealment, rather than love of 

 filth, for the principle on which they surprise their prey 

 is to hide themselves well. 



They are also in my experience very shy fish, and from 

 what has been seen of their habits should be fished for, 

 not in mid stream, but close to the banks, and under them, 

 and in the still pools. 



Morning or evening is also the time to take them; in 

 the heat of the day they may be seen basking on the sur- 

 face or close below it, and can then be shot. I have seen 

 a native doing this very successfully. He walked up the 

 stream like a wise man, so as to approach the basking 

 murrel unobserved from behind, and he used a ball, and 

 aimed always at the head. By making the head your 

 mark, you not only injure your fish less for the table, but 

 you make much more sure of bagging it. The one that 

 this native shot for me had the slightest mark on the off 

 side of the head, where the ball had just grazed. Appar- 

 ently the man had not allowed sufficiently for the re- 

 fraction, and had very nearly missed his fish in conse- 

 quence; but just a touch had been sufficient on the head, 

 whereas a flesh wound would not have secured the fish, 

 unless it had been so central as to break the back-bone. 

 If you aim at the head you may even miss your 



