JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. III. 



heard in Chilka Lake, a salt-water creek close by Batticaloa, on the 

 eastern shores of Ceylon : — 



' ' I distinctly heard the sounds in question. They came up from the 

 water like the gentle thrills of a musical chord, or the faint vibrations of 

 a wine-glass, when its rim is rubbed by a wet finger. It was not one 

 sustained note, but a multitude of tiny sounds, each clear and distinct 

 in itself ; the sweetest treble mingling with the lowest bass. On applying 

 the ear to the wood-work of the boat, the vibration was greatly increased 

 in volume by conduction. The sounds varied considerably at different 

 points, as we moved across the lake, as if the number of the animals from 

 which they proceeded was greater in particular spots : and occasionally 

 we rowed out of hearing of them altogether, until, on returning to the 

 original locality, the sounds were at once renewed." 



Will your readers oblige me by comparing this with the following note 



I published of Musical Fishes in a salt-water creek near Bombay, in the 



Bombay Times of January, 1847 : — 



" A party lately crossing from the promontory in Salsette called the 

 Neat's Tongue, to near Sewree, were, about sunset, struck by hearing 

 long distinct sounds like the protracted booming of a distant bell, the 

 dying cadence of an vEolian harp, the note of a pitch-pipe or pitch-fork, 

 or any other long-drawn-out musical note. It was, at first, supposed to 

 be music from Parell floating at intervals on the breeze ; then it was 

 perceived to come from all directions, almost in equal strength, and to 

 arise from the surface of the water all around the vessel. The boatmen 

 at once intimated that the sounds were produced by fish, abounding in 

 the muddy creeks and shoals around Bombay and Salsette ; they were 

 perfectly well known, and very often heard. Accordingly, on inclining 

 the ear towards the surface of the water, or, better still, by placing it 

 close to the planks of the vessel, the notes appeared loud and distinct, 

 and followed each other in constant succession. The boatmen next day 

 produced specimens of the fish — a creature closely resembling in size 

 and shape the fresh -water perch of the north of Europe — and spoke of 

 them as plentiful and perfectly well known. It is hoped they may be 

 procured alive, and the means afforded of determining how the musical 

 sounds are produced and emitted, with other particulars of interest 

 supposed new in Ichthyology. We shall be thankful to receive from 

 our readers any information they can give us in regard to a phenomenon 

 which does not appear to have been heretofore noticed, and which cannot 

 fail to attract the attention of the naturalist. Of the perfect accuracy 

 with which the singular facts above related have been given, no doubt 

 will be entertained, when it is mentioned that the writer was one of a 

 party of five intelligent persons, by all of whom they were most carefully 

 observed, and the impressions of all of whom in regard to them were 

 uniform. Tt is supposed that the fish are confined to particular localities 

 — shallows, estuaries, and muddy creeks, rarely visited by Europeans ; 

 and that this is the reason why hitherto no mention, so far as we know, 

 has been made of the peculiarity in any work on Natural History.-' 



Now, it was nearly impossible for Sir Emerson Tennent to have seen 

 this, as it was altogether impossible for me to have known in 1847 any- 

 thing about his visit to the Chilka Lake the following year ; and both 

 descriptions, which, so far as the sounds of the fish are concerned, are 

 in perfect harmony, are those of independent observers speaking of the 

 same phenomenon, which I doubt not in both cases admits of the same 



