XIV 
INTRODUCTION. 
Nine days subsequently in S. lat. 22° 19 / and W. long. 25° 53', the ice bad all melted, and tbe ova 
died seventy-four days after leaving’ London. This time about twenty fry were batched out, but 
killed by the excessive pitching and rolling of the ship which caused the water and gravel to be 
thrown with violence against them. 
Since then Salmon and Trout have been safely introduced into Tasmania by conveying the 
boxes of ova in ice, and it is hoped Trout may be introduced on to the Neilgherries by the same 
process. The danger will be in crossing the desert: there will also be a difficulty in having a 
sufficient supply of ice between Suez and Madras. 
Fisheries, it is almost needless to observe, give employment to many individuals, either in 
capturing the spoil, in preparing them for the market, or in their carriage to distant places : as well 
as to the numerous trades to which they are of a greater or less importance. In the State of 
Travancore each fisherman had formerly to pay a yearly tax upon the net he used, and those who 
lived in the town of Cochin, or under Dutch protection, had to bring eight pounds weight of fish 
daily to the senior official. Whilst in the Portuguese territory, besides their taxes, none of their 
produce could be taken to market until the clergy were first served with what they required. At 
the present time there is no tax upon fishermen or on their implements of trade either in the 
British Territory or in the Native State of Cochin. 
The modes of fishing vary with the season of the year, and whether employed in the sea, 
backwater, rivers or tanks. Wall, cast, stake, and Chinese nets are all used. The last situated 
on the banks of rivers—as that of Cochin—are about sixteen feet square, suspended by bamboos 
attached to each corner, and let down like buckets into the water, when, after having remained 
there a few minutes, they are drawn up again. Besides the foregoing, fishing with a bait is 
employed, both from the shore and from small canoes. Trolling at the mouths of rivers, chiefly 
for the Polynemus tetradactylus takes place mostly in the cold months. Likewise shooting with 
a Chittagong bow, or bows and arrows, capturing by means of bamboo labyrinths, and poisoning 
the water by Nux vomica, Cocculus Indicus, Croton-oil seed, or other deleterious substances are all 
common; also damming up and lading out streams, purse-nets in small water-courses, especially 
in rice fields, catching by the hand, or by means of wicker baskets, somewhat resembling the eel- 
traps of Europe, but which are rapidly pressed down over the fish by the fisherman.* 
I now proceed to touch on matters well worthy the attention of those in authority. An 
accurate survey of the Ichthyology of the Western Coast, and an extensive inquiry into its 
fisheries and the uses to which the fish are put, appears advisable for the purpose of ascertaining the 
cause of the remarkable increase in the exports of fish oil, salt fish, and isinglass, which has occurred 
during the last few years. The following subjects would necessarily have to be considered. 
* The various modes of fishing are detailed at pp. 4S8 to 493 of a work published by me, under the 
title of the La?id of the Permauls, or Cochin its past and its present. 
