Chapt. xi. Acclimatized sea-Jish. 143 



They are such magnificent fish that it is a thousand 

 pities they cannot be taken with a rod and line. They 

 must be tried yet again with new devices. 



Dr. Day tells me they are a sea fish, acclimatized to 

 fresh water, in fact, one of the Clupeidos, or herring tribe: 

 and if the reader will only notice, he will see that all the 

 other fish marginally noted above, as occupying the same 

 purely fresh water pond, are either sea fish, or estuary 

 fish; which probably found their own way in, when the 

 sluice, connecting the pond with the estuary, fell into dis- 

 repair. The acclimatization of salt water fish to fresh 

 water, is no uncommon occurrence, for as I stated in the 

 above quoted report, there are ponds in the sand strip 

 between the sea and river at Mangalore in which the water 

 is fresh, and yet they contain several distinct species 

 of purely sea fish that have lived and spawned there for 

 more than eight years. The salmon and shad for instance 

 change every year from sea to fresh water and trout are 

 found at sea. So there is nothing extraordinary in these 

 salmon-like herrings taking kindly to fresh water. 



In the pond in which they live very good fun is to 

 be got out of the Mesoprion rubellus, a red looking sort 

 of perch, called in Canarese the kemberi or red yeri. 

 They take a small fish well when spun from a boat. 

 Some of the other inhabitants of that pond will also 

 take a spinning bait, but not so freely, and somebody 

 rose indifferently at a small fly, but who he was I do not 

 know, for he would not be caught. 



There is a pond in the Sub-Collector's grounds at 



