678 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 2, 1888 
number of enthusiastic fishers and true sportsmen 
in esse and in posse — than one would suppose, as 
well as being of signal value in quite a variety of 
other ways. Indeed, a considerable amount of in- 
formation not previously known to casual fishers 
has been the outcome, and it would be a boon to 
many of us if it could be reprinted in that most 
valuable reference book, the Tropical Agriculturist. 
But, at the same time, it is obvious that the important 
question has not been settled, and the identity 
of the lela with the " mahseer " remains as doubt- 
ful as ever. In fact all the evidence points to 
the conclusion that they are not the same, and 
appears to accentuate the opinion that the true 
" mahseer," the Barbus tor, the 100 lb. king of 
Indian mountain lakes and streams, does not exist 
in Ceylon. The difference between the respective 
descriptions of the Indian mahseer, and the would- 
be mahseer of Ceylon is marked, and this is signi- 
ficant ; also the fact that there are no less than five 
varieties of " mahseer. " " Fisherman " 's state- 
ment that there is " lela (" mahseer" so-called) 
in the Colombo lake and that he has seen it hawked 
about is not so startling when one remembers 
that bales of dried (but not salted) lela, lula, 
moddu, and other fresh-water fish from northern 
tanks are taken by Moormen to Matale and other 
places where they are eagerly bought by natives. 
Lela is also to be found in the Mahaweliganga 
and tributary streams, and is said to be perfectly 
wholesome except in the months of April, May, 
June, and July. I have eaten it in September- 
October, with impunity, and found the flesh white, 
well-flavoured but rather soft. It ought to be cooked 
with the least delay possible ; incipient putridity sets 
in surprisingly soon. The alleged unwholesome- 
ness of fresh-water fish for four months of the 
year is exceedingly curious and distinctly peculiar 
to Ceylon : some reliable information would be 
valuable on the subject. It is not surprising that 
they should, like fish in European waters, be some- 
times "out of season;" but there is an essential 
difference in being merely "out of season " and 
being actually poisonous. 
Now for a word on another question of no small 
importance. It is a customary thing that when a 
pool is known to be " stiff " with fish, it is systema- 
tically drugged, and the fish killed in a most un- 
sporting way by Sinhalese and still more often by 
Moormen who say that if the stomach and inside 
be removed no ill effects happen from eating the 
fish even though it has been poisoned ! How this 
sort of thing can be allowed I cannot imagine ; 
but it cannot go on for ever, and it stands to 
reason, that, no matter how prolific, sooner or later 
the waters will have to be protected, and the sooner 
they come under the " Mundella Act " the better 1 
A. L. 0. M. 
MAHSEER IN CEYLON. 
Sib, — In your issue of the 9th instant, I see 
"A. L. O. M." again raises the question of fish in 
Ceylon. Tbe only freshwater fishes worthy of notice 
iu our island are lula, lel;{, and veralu, and these, 
you have fully described in your issue of the 25th 
ultimo. I would like, however, to say a few more 
words about them. The first, lulrf, I have fished 
just below Kitulgala. resthouse in the Kelaniganga, 
some weighing 75 lb. and over, two of them making 
a heavy load for a Sinhalese man, slung upon the 
ends of a stick over his shoulder. I have also fished 
some of equal size in the Mahaweliganga near 
Haragama in the holes amongst the rocks when the 
river was low, about 2* miles below Gonawatta 
ferry on the Dumbara and Padapelella road, and I 
think I can safely say that these fish can be found 
in all freshwater either tank, stream, or river, in 
Ceylon. I can vouch for its existence in every 
Froviuco except the Southern, where I have never 
been. I am inclined to think that this is the mahseer 
and not Mr. Haly's lela described in his letter of 
1st February which led me to think he meant the 
Itila, and that his spelling of it as the ' leloo,' was a 
mistake. My reference to these fishes is by their 
common vernacular names, not scientifically. Tne 
lula varies in colour according to the water in which 
it is found : some are lighter and some darker than 
others ; and the female is higher iu colour (especially 
on the belly) and more slender in make, never attain- 
ing the same size as the male. I have eaten the 
lula at almost all seasons of the year, and never 
found any ill effects from it ; and further I never 
heard of its being poisonous. 
The lula' can be seen and may bo identified (if 
anyone cares to do so) as the mahseer, I think, in a 
glass case in the verandah of Henderson dubash's 
premises facing Chatham Street, the corner house. 
It is a good specimen, although light in the colour 
owing to the sandy bottom of the case. 
The lela never attains the same dimensions as 
the lula; its average length being 12 inches, [and 
the largest is never over 14 to 2 feet long. Common 
in almost all Ceylcn rivers and lakts ; is poisonous 
at certain seasons through eating the seed or flower of 
some trees, I have heard it said sapu flower in high 
districts. The centre bone has a green and sometimes 
blackish appearance, the fleph sometimes tasting bitter, 
proving soft and disagreeable to the pallet; of a 
silvery grey appearance and very easily distinguished 
from the lula or veralu. 
The veralu is a fish very much like an eel, it is com- 
mon in most rivers aud tanks, grows three to 
four feet long (but not thick in proportion like the 
lula), the flesh is good and tastes like our English 
eel, but not so oily. Tamil coolies are very fond of 
this fish and are very persevering iu their endeavours 
to capture it. 
Several other fishes are found in our rivers and tanks, 
but they are so full of bones that they cannot be eaten 
with any relish, even after a good cook has gone over 
them, the same as a glazier would putty with a knife, 
to get out the bones before converting them into 
cutlets. The largest of these, a very scaly fish, nearly 
attains the dimentions of the lula, but |is thicker 
and has a smaller head. FISHERMAN. 
FRESHWATEE FISH, PORCUPINES, AND 
LONG DIVES. 
March 12th, 1888. 
Dear Sie, — In your issue of the 9th instant, I 
notice a correspondent mentions the alleged un whole- 
someness of the lela, during the months of April, 
May, June, and July. From personal ex7erience, 
I am able to state that they are un whole*, jme (in 
the Kotmale district) during January and Feoraary. 
I attribute this to the fact that they spawn at that 
time of the year, and if eaten give rise to symptoms 
resembling dysentery. I have eaten this fish from 
August to November and have then found it both 
good and wholesome : in the months March to 
August I have no experience one way or the other. 
I have never seen 161a from the Kotmaleganga 
over 2 lb, in weight, but have seen a 3 lb. fish in 
another district ; the fish which seems to attain 
the greatest weight in the Kotmaleganga is 
the "palanga" (Tamil), a kind of eel. I heard of 
one some years ago having been caught below 
Meddacumbura estate and purchased by the 
manager : it was said to scale 16 lb. They are very 
good eating, perhaps better than any other Ceylon 
fish. They are, I believe, invariably caught with 
night lines by the Sinhalese. Many fish have been 
destroyed by dynamite in the Kotmaleganga. This 
should be put a stop to if possible. I have never 
seen fish rising on the above river, but have seen 
them rising very freely in the Kaluganga, north of 
Ratnapura. I was unable to procure a specimen, 
but the fish on the rise seemed to be a good 
size. With regard to porcupines shooting thei 
