Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-04-22
FiShlNC IN The WATERS Or ASIA.
Curious Oriental Ways of Catching Fish
fortunes Ahead for fisherm3n.


fortunes Ahead for fisherman.
The Chinese have many curious
WAYS of catching fish, said piscato-
ria, sharp to writer for the " ashing-
ton Star. In winter they dive for
them A certain species demanded i'm
the market seeks shelter during the
cold season under the rocks ut con-
siderable depth. They cannot be cot
with hook and line, and so the fisher
men 90 down into the water after
them, plunging from boat. Three
dives are made each hour, and 4 fire is
kept on board the boat for the purpose
of warming those at work between
| whites. Not infrequently they come
| up bleeding from the lungs, and rbeu-
matism and skin diseases render them
| disabled by the time they are 10 years
| old
1t was the Chinese who invented
the well-knOwn plan of capturing
| ducks and other water fowl by wading
| toward them with a basket over the
bead and dragging them under water
| before they knew what had caught
them by the legs. Theirs is the idea
of employing c0rmOrarts. to aid them
in fishing. You have heard, doubtless,
how the birds used for this purpose
have collars around their necks to pre-
vent them from swallowing the game
! they capture. At a signal given by
their owner they plunge into the water
after the prey. Whatever they get is
| taken from them, and they are re-
warded for every success with bit of
fish small enough for them to eat.
| They are forced to work very hard all
| day long, but great care is taken of
| them and they are nursed most atten
| lively when sick. A bird is usually
good for service until it is ten years
| old. The cOrmOrant fishermen are or
| ganized into societies, the birds be.
| longing to each association having
| peculiar mark
in India also the natives employ
many methods of fishing which seem
| odd to us. There is in the district of
! Dude a species of oO-called walking
! fish with snake-like heads, which are
often seen floating on the water as if
| asleep. The people shoot them with
| cross bows. Usually they sink when
| they are killed, so that they have to be
| dived for afterward. In the Indus, the
| Ganges and other streams are numer-
Gus fish-eating crocodilcs which attain
a length of more than twenty feet.
| Except when near THEN nests and anx-
| ious to defend their eggs they run
| away from human beings. OF fish
| they catch an enormous number, and
| it has been thought very strange that
| the fishermen should not destroy such
| rivals in their own business. But they
! Regard the mere suggestion of such an
| idea with horror, saying that the croc-
| odiies are brothers in trade.
HE man-eating crocodiles of those
| rivers are regarded rs sacred and are
! never harmed. OF late years they
| have destroyed more lives than form
| erly. owing to the prohibition by Law
| of the ancient practice Of consigning
| cOrpscS TO the streams. 1t vEs -
! good old way to fill the mouth of til"
defunct respectfully with mud and
! leave the cadavar to be swept away by
the current. Upon such supplies of
| food the great saurians depended
largely, and, being deprived of them,
they lie in wait to snap up living peo-
pie and cattle. Five persons have
| been known to be carried off in one
year at a single pool. However, the
country is overpopulated, but one
would not think it an agreeable death.
| to die.
"The Buddhists in India have hor-
r0r of eating the flesh of animals, be-
lieying them to be incarnations Of hui
man beings souls; but they permit
| getting around the difficulty by saying
| ln i-bn tol- r h.,
fishes lives and are responsible. On
the walls of their temples are numer-
Gus frescoeS wildly depicting the ter
rible tortures which fishermen will
have to endure in future state. In
these paintings Tires are represented
stirred by devils, who are dragging the
fishermen into the flames in nets. haul
ing them by hooks and lines, and prod
| ding them from behind with fish
| spears.
There is u story of a Buddhist
priest who lodged for some time at the
house of fisherman. The latter had
| recently reformed and was pursuing
another occupation. After two days
| the guest asked why no fish were
| served upon the table and being in
| formed that his host was withheld by
conscientious scruples from catching
them he expressed his approval in high
terms. At the end of a week, how
ever, he felt a craving for fish strong
upon him and inquired how far the
tisherman's net stretched across the
neighboring stream. He was told that
it extended one-third of the way
across.
off that is the case said the priest,
the fish have their choice as to whether
they will be caught or not. Soft they
choose to be taken nobody else is re-
sponsible. Therefore, you will do
right to try and catch some
accordingly the priest was served
thereafter with fish, of which delicacy
he would have been deprived had it
not been for the wisdom which sacred
books had taught him."
A Remarkable Brain.
at is remarkable" said Mr.. Andrew
Morgan, what great strain the brain