25* 
OUE FISHEEMEN AND TISHERIES. a 
Probably few among us have given iduc-Ii g 
thought to our fishermen and fiaheneti, end to f; 
the important place assigned to fish as an article j 
of food in South India, especially by dwolltrs r. 
in the towns and villoges along the coasf. It ( 
is only when the fish world is affected by some c 
epideiuio, as was reported to bo the case Beveral i; 
years ago, and fish s.s an article of diet is pro- i- 
scribed f', r a brief space, that we rs alise the vbIub ^ 
of it as human food. Most of us know moro of i 
fishermen than fisheries, for of them Eomc statistics j 
are available, but of our fisheries, Goverf-mtnt { 
has hitherto taken but little note, and vre search j 
the " Madras Manual" in vain for tomo reliable i 
information concerning them. The fishicg caetes j 
number about a million persons in ell, but those ( 
who live inland; far removed from sea and 1 
river, follow the occupation of hunters, and, since ; 
they Chnnot destroy the ereaiures of the water, j 
live by cleBtroyii;g tho creatures of the land. . 
The fishermen are known by many names, and i 
their kingdom has bten invaded by other castes, ; 
^.ho also seek to stiza the treat-ures i}f the sea, , 
but the Pattinavar are Ihe original fislermsij, , 
the real Sunoii Puie. They are cf an ancscnt 
Dravidian slock, and represent one cf the most 
ancient types of civilisation to be found among 
the dwellers on the pleics. Compared with the 
Pattinavar, the ryot is a civilised and polished 
gentleman, and his occupation and implemeuts 
of husbandry represent a oivilisatioo many c^n- 
turies in advance of that cf the fiditrman. The 
Pattinavar, as fishers and hunters, eshibit to ua 
man in a stats of mere animalism, prtyiog upon 
other creatures, and possessing but liitie more 
genius of an inventive or meohanieal kind than 
is to be found among birds or spiders, Even 
after the lapse of thousands of years, this is 
still true cf them ; they appear to have mude 
hardly ai y aavance, and their houses, clothing and 
equipmeui for their toil are generally as primitiva 
as tuey were when the Aryans crossed the Vindhya 
Mountains. The houses are leaf huts, cotjsistiug 
of a circular mud wall some two feet high, on 
•which a palmyra fiamework with a covering of 
palmyra leaves serves as a roof. To the hut 
there are no w.udows, but only an opening fwr 
ingress and egress, which serves as a door The 
boat of tiie fisherman is the kattu maram, which 
properly consists of five pieces of wood fi t':d 
close together and tied at the ends with rope 
made of the fibre of the coconut tree. On this 
raft they are perfectly at home, and guide it 
^vher3 ihey will by paddling, an 1 occasionally by 
a brown bsil of rough canviiS, The> make and 
mend their own nets, and for this work their 
implements are of the simplest. 
The work of the fishermen is hard enough, yet 
on these shores they are not esuooed to such 
risks as beset the fisher in Wentern ar.d North 
seas, and we rarely hear of dci.tS.'S by drowning, 
or of such calamities as happen, for eximple, to 
those engaged in htning fishing. Probally uo- 
Vi'hero in the wide worid can better swimmers be 
found than our Inoia fisherrten ; they take to 
the Wiil'^r naturally as ducks and from their 
childhood ^^re accustomed to go to sea on the 
Icattu luuram. Tlia income of the fishermen is 
generally sufficient ilieir maintenance, and in 
tQo neighbourhood of l^adras and other large 
town.'s is abundant, and, if ii?.y were fic'ouslomed 
to cultivate habits of temperance aod tnr.'ft. 
would amply tuflice to secure for' them many 
comforts in addition to the necessaries of life. 
JJut of all the Hindu castes, there are no more 
atjeet slaves to drink ihan they. Their degia- 
dation could hardly be more complete than it is, 
and toadydrinking is the cause ot it all. Tha 
Sbanar is their doetroyer, and quite recently wlu.n 
in one village there were Eigdc that a number of 
men were ruBkicg an attempt at total abstiteDce 
(for to the Hiudu low castes moderation in 
drinking is impostibie), the Shsner visited the 
huts of the fibhermtn, and appealed to ih^m 
not to forsake him, promising lo Eupply th.m 
gratis v/hcn they should coae again. It, is neel- 
hss to say that Pattinavar virtue is not proof 
against an offer like this, viz , to be made drunk 
free of cost. By way of traitjiug the fishtr-children, 
in drinking habits, the fathers bring them as mere 
infants to the toddy-shop, and they each receive 
free of cost from the Bhauar a small draught 
of toddy, or it a Email tin-pot of regulalion size 
ba brought, it is duly filh d for the child at home. 
Thus tire contiijU;d lu n cf the caste is secured, 
ana life ia shorn of all comforr. The fisberwomen 
are for the most part coarse and unattractive, 
and grow premaiurely o'd. It is a rare thing 
to see any of them really clean and deceniiy 
clad : their life is without adornment end full 
of hard work. Surely the fiah-girl from whom 
Vyaso, the Veda-maker, sprang was better looking 
than Pattinavar women are uow-a-days. Vyasa 
at least was belter educated than are the children 
of our modern fishers, for we find among them 
no schools, nor influences of any kind calcula- 
ted to improve them and secure thfir social ad- 
vancement. And though they reckon E^nniya.ma 
as their deity, the toddy-thop raay be said lo 
be their temple. It is itnpossible to avoid the 
regret, that a caste so ancient, useful and lard 
workitg should be so completely unable to rise 
to a better social condition. Poiyj-amy is com- 
mou among them, and married life by no means 
all that it should be, and in the speech both of 
men and women, and in the games played by 
their children, we hear the most indecent ex- 
pressions which the vernacu'ar can supply. If 
t))e headmen of tbe caste were intelligent and 
worthy enough, they should pass a law for the 
Pattinavar comxielling the education of all their 
children, and in a few years a wonderful change 
for the belter should be appare; t. Tbey have 
the power to do this, but whether tlisy have 
the public spirit and the requisite courage ia 
another matter. 
Like our fishermen, out India fisheries receive 
but seani. attention from Goverument. Statisiics 
of fisheries are nowhere very complete, but in- 
complete as thi y are, tf.ey suflice lc impress en 
us the fact thut the sea makes large contribu- 
tion to tho food-supyly of the world. In Inelis, 
v/here we are cuntiaually exppriencing difficulty 
in obtaining a suliioient fooci-supply, it behoves 
Government to give special attention to every 
source from whence contubutions to it may be 
obtained. In a city like Madras the fisheries con- 
tribute enormously to tbe food-eupply, ks may be 
di.-coversd by a visit to the local Billing^g^lte, 
an.'i an abundant supply offish tends to chtapen 
fiesli as an article of diet. Though it may be 
said that there are no sipns cf famine in the 
sea, and that the fish-supply is by no means 
bcaD*y, it is worth cousidernig whether the sup- 
ply cannot be made far more abundant, and 
iha price of food ihenby cooBideratjly cheapened. 
We have no doubt but that this can be d^rie. 
Among iha non-Buropeati population, it may be 
said that nearly all knids oi fish, and they are 
very ^r;?-uy, are eagerly consumed, and besides 
those which afe eaten freeh, immense quuntities of 
salt-fish are also used. These find their way 
