INDIAN FISH AND FISHING. 29 



breeding-grounds intercepted, but fishermen take the oppor- 

 tunity of capturing the fishes which are detained here. Stand- 

 ing on those weirs, one can see the fish jumping against the 

 obstruction, which they vainly hope to surmount ; some 

 strike against the piers of the bridge, others fall into the 

 cascade which descends over its summit ; but to them the 

 wall is an impassable obstacle. 



The irrigation canals may be said to be streams obtained 

 by diverting a large amount of water from a river into a 

 new channel, and this, of course, would be taken from above 

 the weir ; consequently, all fish descending the river become 

 diverted into the irrigation canal. If these canals are con- 

 structed for navigation as well as for irrigation, the fish can 

 pass along them ; but if due to falls, they are unsuited to 

 navigation, then the fish can descend them, but are unable 

 to re-ascend. They thus become vast fish traps, wherein 

 all the finny inhabitants are destroyed whenever the canals 

 are run dry in order to examine their condition in order to 

 see what annual repairs are necessary. Passing off on 

 either side of these canals are lateral irrigation channels, 

 which are employed to directly water the crops, and at each 

 successive replenishment of these, another shoal of fish 

 passes to inevitable destruction. Unprovided with gratings 

 at their entrance, and only kept filled on alternate weeks, 

 all the fish which enter invariably perish. The same 

 destructive process exists throughout India wherever irri- 

 gation is carried on. 



As the yearly rains cause inundations of the country by 

 the overflowing of the rivers and tanks, fish move about in 

 order to find suitable localities for breeding in, and the small 

 streams and their outlets resemble the net-work of irrigation 

 channels. Many species ascend them to spawn, but find, at 

 every turn, appliances invented by man ready for their 



