INDIAN FISH AND FISHING. 15 



cast-net, which can be carried from one spot to another, 

 as requirements dictate ; occasionally several are joined 

 together, thus constructing a drag-net There are simple 

 nets with floats, which are either without sinkers or with 

 them ; some employed near the shore have a bamboo at 

 either end. There are purse-nets and bag-nets, some with, 

 others without, pockets ; some for drifting, others for being 

 dragged or fixed ; as well as special nets for various 

 purposes, some of which have more complicated arrange- 

 ments, while the size of the mesh is constructed in accordance 

 with that of the fish it is intended to capture. 



One of the most primitive forms of implement for the 

 capture of fish, and which is extensively employed in the 

 East, is cone or bell-shaped, made of pieces of split bamboo 

 or rattan, the lower end of this cone being open, while at its 

 upper end is a small orifice through which the fisherman 

 can pass his hand and remove the captures. In many 

 places rows of fishermen, each armed with one of these 

 primitive implements, work a tideway, and often with good 

 results, especially among grey mullet and small fish ; or 

 the upper end of this cone may be closed, forming a handle, 

 while a rope-handle is affixed to the larger extremity, and 

 it is thus employed as a scoop. A similar cone, but closed 

 at its narrow end, and having a second one inserted into the 

 larger extremity, when laid flat constitutes a trap which can 

 be used in weirs or elsewhere. From these have sprung a 

 most varied assortment of wicker traps, many resembling in 

 structure rat-traps ; some are baited, others simply inserted 

 in tideways for the purpose of taking fish or Crustacea. An 

 enumeration of all forms would be endless. Triangular 

 lave-nets used by a single fisherman are also constructed 

 of split bamboo as well as of net. 



In some places on the Andaman Islands, the fishermen 



