Note 139 — The Fifteenth New Year’s Feast after the Auspicious Accession

On this day I saw an unusual kind of fishing on the part of the fishermen of Kashmir. In a place where the water was up to a man’s chest, they propelled two boats that were side by side, and so that at one end they were in contact, and at the other end they were 14 or 15 yards apart. Two boatmen held long poles in their hands, and sate on the outside edge of each boat (?) so as to regulate the space between each boat, and that they should proceed equally. Then ten or twelve boatmen got down into the water, and laying hold of the ends of the two boats that were joined139 together with their hands, trampled the bottom with their feet, and moved on. The fish which were between the boats wanted to get out of the narrow space, and came against the feet of the boatmen. Immediately one of the boatmen dived, and another one pressed upon his back, and with his two hands kept him from coming to the surface. The latter caught a fish and produced it. Some who are skilful in the art catch two fish with their hands, and bring them to the surface. Among them was an old boatman, who generally at each dive brought up two fish. This kind of fishing occurs at Panj Brāra,140 and is peculiar to the Jhelam. It is not used in ponds or in other streams. It also only takes place in the spring when the water is not cold or impetuous (gazanda, “biting”?).