,1042 JOUR2HAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
An even more peculiar method of fishing is the use of the spear, either alone 
or in company, either by day or by night. The Intha fish-sjrear is of two kinds. 
One has two prongs of iron, each with a smgle barb on its inner side. The two 
prongs are inserted in a mass of resin at the end of a bamboo. This kind of spear 
is only u.sed for catching eels in the mud. The more popular kind has five simi- 
lar, but finer, prongs cast in one piece with a corkscrew spike at the base. This 
spike is inserted into the stem of a long reed and neatly bound in position. The 
spear is used for catching all kinds of fish, especially the true Carp, which is the 
most abundant fish in the Intha markets, and the Herring Barbel. The spear 
is always used from a boat, and the Intha are extremely skilful in its 
manipulation. 
Their boats are long and narrow, bifurcate and slightly turned up at either end. 
They are formed of stout planks of wood neatly fitted together and covered with 
black varnish in such a way as to give the impression of being carved out of a 
single log. They are flat-bottomed but very easily worked, answering to the 
'lightest turn of the paddle. The Intha have a peculiar method of rowing by means 
of which they are said, in their own boats, to excel all other Burmese rowers in 
speed. They are “ leg-rowers ” : that is to say, they row standing with one leg 
twisted round the paddle and use the leg in working, the oar as well as one arm. 
They can actually row in this way with one arm and one leg, standmg on the 
other leg, and spear fish with the other arm. In this extraordinary manoeuvre 
they seem to be quite ambidextrous as well as bemg able to use either leg indis- 
criminately. 
In the use of the spear they are equally ambidextrous. Often a man or a 
boy goes out to spear fish alone. In order to prevent the boat turning round in 
an inconvenient manner Avbile he is executing the manoeuvre already described 
he hangs over the end of the boat that happens to be hindermost at the time — for 
the two ends are alike — a piece of rope to either end of which a small flat plank 
is attached. The string is just long enough to allow the two planks to hang in 
the water. They are very efficient in giving the boat stability. Sometimes the 
fish-spearer trusts merely to his own skill. He stirs up the weeds with a long 
bamboo pole and spears the fish as they come out, or waits for them over a clear 
space in the submerged thickets. Often he uses a large conical structure made of 
ii-eeds sufficiently long to reach the bottom of the lake. This he inserts over a 
likely mass of weeds or at a place where he has seen a fish take shelter. In the 
narrow end of the cone, which remains uppermost, there is a small hole and 
through this hole he jabs down his spear until he hits the fish or decides that he 
has not succeeded in enclosing one. 
frequently a number of men combme together in spearing parties. They 
surround a suitable weedy area with a net the lower end of which is weighted and 
rests on the bottom while the upper end, to which floats are attached, lies some 
little distance below the surface of the water. The fishermen in their canoes re- 
main inside the space enclosed by the net and alternately hit the surface with 
their paddles to frighten the fish and thrust at any they see. Thej' know that 
the natui'al tendency of those fish which haunt the submerged thickets is to dive 
doum wards and that individuals which escape their spears will sufim along or near 
the bottom and entangle themselves in the net instead of making their way over 
the top. The fish caught most commonly in this way is the Herring Barbel, 
while the one particularly sought with the aid of the cone of reeds is the true 
Carp. 
The most profitable method of spearing, however, is to go out at night with a 
.'mall fire or a lamp at the front end of the boat which both attracts the fish 
and lights up the water. Sometimes single boats go out for the purpose, at 
others several advance together in a line. For every method of fishing the 
fisherman has to pay a small monthly license to the State. That for spearing 
at night with a light is the most expensive of all, costing Re. 1 a month. 
