The whole of the southern coast, especially in the neighborhood
of the salt lakes, abounds with fish. These are at present nearly
undisturbed; but I have little doubt that a reduction in the
price of salt would soon call forth the energies of the Moormen,
who would establish fisheries in the immediate neighborhood. This
would be of great importance to the interior of the country, as a
road has been made within the last few years direct from this
locality to Badulla, distant about eighty miles, and situated in
the very heart of the most populous district of Ceylon. This
road, which forms a direct line of communication from the port of
Hambantotte to Newera Ellia, is now much used for the transport
of coffee from the Badulla estates, to which a cheap supply of
salt and fish would he a great desideratum.
The native is a clever fellow at fishing. Every little boy of
ten years old along the coast is an adept in throwing the casting
net; and I have often watched with amusement the scientific
manner in which some of these little fellows handle a fine fish
on a single line; Isaak Walton would have been proud of such
pupils.
There is nothing like necessity for sharpening a man's intellect,
and the natives of the coast being a class of ichthyophagi, it
may be imagined that they excel in all the methods of capturing
their favorite food.
The sea, the rivers, and in fact every pool, teem with fish of
excellent quality, from the smallest to the largest kind, not
forgetting the most delicious prawns and crabs. Turtle likewise
abound, and are to be caught in great numbers in their season.
Notwithstanding the immense amount of fish in the various rivers,
there is no idea of fishing as a sport among the European
population of Ceylon. This I cannot account for, unless from the
fear of fever, which might be caught with more certainty than
fish by standing up to the knees in water under a burning sun.
Nevertheless, I have indulged in this every now and then, when
out on a jungle trip, although I have never started from home
with such an intention. Seeing some fine big fellows swimming
about in a deep hole is a great temptation, especially when you
know they are grey mullet, and the chef de cuisine is short of
the wherewithal for dinner.
This is not infrequently the case during a jungle trip; and the
tent being pitched in the shade of a noble forest on the steep
banks of a broad river, thoughts of fishing naturally intrude
themselves.
The rivers in the dry season are so exhausted that a simple bed
of broad dry sand remains, while a small stream winds along the
bottom, merely a few inches deep, now no more than a few feet in
width, now rippling over a few opposing rocks, while the natural
bed extends its dry sand for many yards on either side. At every
bend in the river there is of course a deep hole close to the
bank; these holes remain full of water, as the little stream
continues to flow through them; and the water, in its entrance
and exit being too shallow for a large fish, all the finny
monsters of the river are compelled to imprison themselves in the
depths of these holes. Here the crocodiles have fine feeding, as
they live in the same place.
With a good rod and tackle there would be capital sport in these
places, as some of the fish run ten and twelve pounds weight; but
I have never been well provided, and, while staring at the
coveted fish from the bank, I have had no means of catching them,
except by the most primitive methods.
Then I have cut a stick for a rod, and made a line with some
hairs from my horse's tail, with a pin for a hook, baited with a
shrimp, and the fishing has commenced.
Fish and fruit are the most enjoyable articles of food in a
tropical country, and in the former Ceylon is rich. The seir
fish is little inferior to salmon, and were the flesh a similar
color, it might sometimes form a substitute. Soles and whiting
remind us of Old England, but a host of bright red, blue, green,
yellow, and extraordinary-looking creatures in the same net
dispel all ideas of English fishing.
Oysters there are likewise in Ceylon; but here, alas I there is a
sad falling off in the comparison with our well-remembered
"native." Instead of the neat little shell of the English oyster,
the Ceylon species is a shapeless, twisted, knotty, rocky-looking
creature, such as a legitimate oyster would be in a fit of spasms
or convulsions. In fact, there is no vestige of the true breed
about it, and the want of flavor equals its miserable exterior.
There are few positions more tantalizing to a hungry man than
that of being surrounded b oysters without a knife. It is an
obstinate and perverse wretch that will not accommodate itself to
man's appetite, and it requires a forcible attack to vanquish it;
so that every oyster eaten is an individual murder, in which the
cold steel has been plunged into its vitals, and the animal finds
itself swallowed before it as quite made up its mind that it has
been opened. But take away the knife, and see how vain is the
attempt to force the stronghold.
