Legendary & romantic tales of Indian history

by Hobart Caunter

As they proceeded, the ground became swampy and anything but agreeable for travelling. They at length reached the banks of a considerable stream, upon which a number of fowlers were exercising the various artifices of their craft. It was an unusual, and therefore an interesting sight to the strangers. The country abounded with water-fowl which were very fat, and there was a good vent for them in the neighbouring villages and at a town some distance down the stream. A large kind of heron congregated here in immense flocks; but the choice bird was the khawasil, a fowl in great request, because it was extremely rare. The Moguls were interested by the manner of catching these birds, which was as follows:—“The fowler spun a thin sliding springe, about an arrow’s flight long, and to the one end of this cord fixed a double-pointed arrow, while on the other end of it he fastened a cross handle of horn. He then took a stick of the thickness of the wrist, and a span in length, and commencing at the arrow, wound up the cord until it was all wound on; after which he made fast the horn handle, and pulled out the stick of the thickness of the wrist, on which the cord had been wound, the cord remaining wound up and hollow. Taking a firm hold of the horn handle, he threw the dart, having the cord attached to it, at any fowl that came near. If it fell on the neck or wings of the bird, it immediately twisted round it and brought it down.”

“All the people on the Baran catch birds in this manner, but it is extremely difficult and unpleasant, as it must be practised on dark and rainy nights; for on such nights, for fear of the ravenous animals and beasts of prey, they fly about constantly all night long, never resting till the morning; and at such times they fly low. In dark nights they keep flying over the running water, as it appears bright and white; and it is at such times, when from fear they fly up and down above the streams all night long, that the fowlers cast their cords.”[19] The chief of the Moguls, struck with the ingenious mode of taking these birds, attempted to cast the snare; but with all his skill in the use of weapons of war, at which he was singularly expert, he could not manage to secure a single bird.

A little further down the river, a singular mode of taking fish excited the travellers’ attention. “In a place where the water fell from a height, the fishermen had dug out pits about the size of a house, and laying them with stones in the form of the lower part of a cooking furnace, they had heaped on stones above the pits, leaving only one passage for the water to descend; they had piled up the stones in such a manner that, except by this single passage, there was no other for the fish either to come or go. The water of the stream finding its way through these stones, this contrivance answered the purpose of a fishpool. In winter, whenever fish were required, they opened one of these pits and took out forty or fifty fish at a time. In some convenient place of the pit, an opening was formed, and excepting at that outlet, all the sides of it were secured with rice straw, over which stones were piled up. At the opening was fastened a kind of wicker-work like a net; the two extremities being contracted were brought near each other. In the middle of this first wicker-net was fixed another piece of wicker net-work, in such a way that the mouth of this last might correspond with that of the other, but its whole length be only about half of that of the one first mentioned. The mouth of this inner net-work was made very narrow. Whatever entered, passed of necessity into the larger wicker-net, the lower part of which was so constructed that no fish could escape back. The lower part of the mouth of the inner wicker-net was so formed, that when fish had once entered the upper part, they were forced to proceed one by one down to the lower part of its mouth. The sharpened sticks forming the lower part of the mouth were brought close together: whatever passed this mouth came into the larger wicker-net, the lower passage of which was strongly secured, so that the fish could not escape; for if it happened to turn and attempt to swim back, it could not get up in consequence of the sharpened prongs that formed the lower mouth of the small inner wicker-net. Every time the fishermen bring their nets, they fasten them on the water-course of the fishpool, and then take off the covering of the fishpool, leaving all its sides secured by the rice straw. Whatever they can lay hold of in the hollow pit they seize, while every fish that attempts to escape by the only issue left, necessarily comes into the wicker-net that has been mentioned, and is taken there.”[20]

The Mogul chief entered familiarly into conversation with the fishermen, who, being from among the lowest caste of Hindoos, had no great scruple at entering into conversation with Mahomedans.

“Have you plenty of game in these jungles?” asked the Mogul.

“Enough of that, but it is no easy matter to come at it; for there are numbers of animals to share it, which don’t hesitate at laying their armed paws upon intruders.”

“But a man ought at any time to be a match for a brute.”

“Your brutes, master, are rough subjects to deal with. ’Tis well enough when you can snare and knock their brains out without hazard, but, to my mind, ’tis a madman’s venture to stand against a wild beast, when, if you are killed, ’tis an ignoble death, and if you come off best, you get but a sorry reputation for your valour; for valour without discretion is a ragged sort of virtue, and we fishermen pride ourselves upon showing more of the latter than of the former; if one hadn’t more discretion than valour, fishing would be but a beggarly craft, and as it is we can’t manage to get rich.”

“What animals most prevail in these woods?”

“Why there’s a tolerable sprinkling of tigers, and hogs in abundance; but the greatest nuisance in these parts is a rhinoceros that often comes upon the banks of the river, and does us terrible damage. I wish some bold champion would make a feast of him for the vultures, and he would render us a very laudable service.”