12 INDIAN FISH AND FISHING. 



as a rule do so by means of nets, stakes, or with hooks and 

 lines. Deep-sea netting is not carried on to any great 

 extent,, partly because of the insufficiency of a market to 

 render such remunerative, and likewise owing to the expense 

 which would be necessary in obtaining the requisite nets, 

 and the cost of building seaworthy boats. Fishermen are 

 not to be classed among the richer classes, but have to 

 borrow money, which is lent them at exorbitant rates of 

 interest, wherewith to supply themselves with the requisites 

 for their work. As an instance, in Sind a net suitable for 

 sea-fishing would involve the outlay of £40 or ^50, while it 

 does not usually last more than. a year. A boat costs about 

 ^"ioo, and ought to be serviceable for several successive 

 seasons. The money having been borrowed, the fisherman, 

 who is the borrower, disposes of his captures at half the 

 market rates to the money-lender, still this leaves a profit 

 due to the existence of a good market for the fish-curer's 

 trade. 



Along the coasts of Sind large nets for sharks are 

 employed in the comparatively deep sea ; while off Malabar 

 during the mackerel and sardine seasons, drift-nets, having 

 a mesh suited to the size of the species it is desired to 

 capture, are used for taking these two descriptions of fish, 

 as well as for the seir fish {Cybium) and horse mackerel 

 (Caranx), but not expressly for any other sorts. Also in the 

 vicinity of large towns, or where a great demand exists, stake 

 and other nets are somewhat largely employed. In some 

 places fishing by hooks and lines is much pursued : not so 

 in others. The modes of capture may be divided into two 

 descriptions : first, the larger hooks used for sharks and 

 other predaceous forms when they are connected by a chain 

 to a strong cord ; secondly, the smaller kinds of hooks used 

 in catching sea perches, maigres, polynemi, and other 



