196 
INDIAN FRESH-WATER FISHES. 
to provide for a clear passage for fish up the rivers, 
except in one or two special cases, for this reason ; 
in the first burst of the rains, when the fish have 
to go up stream, the rivers are generally so much 
swollen that they have no difficulty whatever in reach- 
ing their destination. All impediments, excepting 
masonry irrigation works, which are not often met 
with, are cleared out of the way by the great rush of 
water. 
It is after the rains are over, when the rivers are low 
again and the young fry are coming down stream, that 
care has to be taken of them. Often every drop of 
the water is strained through wicker-work traps, and 
the young fish are destroyed by millions. 
It may, perhaps, be said that the fecundity of 
nature is so great that this destruction of fry does not 
perceptibly decrease the supply of fish. 
To some degree this is no doubt true, but it should 
be remembered that the small fry are the natural food 
of many of the larger kinds, and if the former are 
destroyed by man, he cannot expect to find a plentiful 
supply of large fish as well, nor to have them in good 
condition and well fed. There is no doubt, I think, 
that when fish of any kind have an insufficient supply 
of food they never attain their full size, nor, I should 
imagine, that such kinds as naturally prefer a carni- 
vorous diet, if forced to feed on vegetable matter, or 
filthy refuse, are not nearly so good or wholesome for 
eating. This consideration also disposes of the argu- 
ment that, of the small fry taken in these basket-work 
