Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-27
LIVE ON FLOATING ISLANDS
Homes on Patches of Dense Seaweed
and Moss.
MAN ON END OF FISH LINE
Incases His Legs in Shark Skin and
Jumps Overheard to Attack
the Monsters.
Special Correspondence Of The Star.


Calcutta, May 30 1907.
The value Of the expectation OF fishmaws
and sharks fms last year from India
amounted to about s166, 665. They sell for
$500 ton. which shows that about $50 tons
Of this food commodity Is caught in the
waters Of India and exported annually. A
considerable portion of the article goes to
Chinese ports.
The industry Is carried On by a class Of
natives designated as Mughs, a very low
sort Of native. but who are industrious and.
in their way. adventuresome. This is shown
by their daring to live on a low, marshy
island off the Sunderbans facing the bay Of
Bengal. These islands are really floating
patches of seaweed. moss. a kind of turf
and jungle. Even the violent action Of the
waters Of the bay cause the surface Of the
island to vibrate. Yet these ignorant and
partly civilized humans dare to live such
a land formation with their women and
children and to engage in one Of the most
dangerous Of occupations-that Of battling
with the tigers of the 1t not infre-
quently happens that the courageous MUCH
falls the victim to the savage. man-eating
shark. instead of the shark to the persever-
ing fisherman.
Man Used for Bait.
When other kinds Of bait fail to attract
the shark and business grows slack the
Mughs throw pebbles that are marked in a
certain way with the blood of the shark
kind of way of casting lots. and this de-
termines who shall become bait for sharks
for one day. A strong rope made Of the
skin of the porpoise Of good length Is fas-
tened about the body of the human bait"
under the arms This line is made fast to a
derrick erected on a catanaran that can be
lowered and raised quickly. The legs of the
bait" are encased In legsins made OF
shark skin or crocodile skin. To the
bats legs are fastened a number Of
shark hooks and lines. the hooks being bait
ed with ordinary bait. When the boat Is
near to the spot where sharks abound the
derrick Is swung out with the human bait
dangling at the end of the line. and by
sudden jerk the bait" is allowed to fall
with a splash into the water. AS quick as
flash one or more water tigers after the
bait. The MUCH Is quickly drawn up, when
the sharks hungry and eager grab at the
"baits' legs and in the mix-up they man.
age to swallow the baited hooks and are
soon dispatched with spears This process
Is continued until the catch is finished for
the day.
fasten his teeth in the leg Of the bait" be-
fore he Is out Of reach but the thick skin
Logging protects the limb and as a rule the
quick and certain spear OF a man in the
the boat gets the too ambitious shark
There Is no bait that will arouse the shark
when he is taking snooze. which some
times lasts for hours, like the human body
The shark seems to recognize the splash
no doubt he also detects the smell Of
the human, especially the odor Of the MUCH
Brave and Harmless.
There are thousands OF these semi-civ-
ilized Mughs living in the Sunderbans en-
gagged in catching fish of all kinds. but
principally porpoises. crocodiles. gars and
sharks. They are a brave and harmless
lot md La For
selves and families. They eat any kind of
food they can get and have no connection
with any Of the religious "isms' of India.
They believe in mats" or evil spirits. which
they half fear, half adore and In way
worship. They probably received the idea
OF mats" from the Burmese. who believe
in mats and hold religious ideas based on
these mysterious inhabitants of the air. 1t
is impossible to bring to bear on the Mughs
any missionary influence, because a mis-
sionary. IL one could be found with suff1-
cient courage to venture into the outer
fringe Of the Sunderbans. would not survive
very long the poisonous atmosphere that
hangs over the floating islands and the
points Of land the year round.
Mughs Fell Through.
Some hunters who ventured Into the Sun
derbans in launch last January were told
by Mughs that some Of their friends had
ventured out on a point trying to spear
gether on a spongy patch and all sank out
of sight never to rise again. The hunt
remained closely in their boats rather
than to venture on to that kind Of terra
frma.
Boat Attacked by Tigers.
The hunters anchored their boat not far
from Sunderban island which was covered
with thick jungle. and during the night
couple Of large tigers. male and female.
swan out to the boat and made a desper-
ate effort to climb In. The hunters had
flash light with them, which was turned on
the daring intruders and succeeded in kill
Ing and bagging both Of them. Hunting In
the more elevated Sunderbans used to be
popular with the more venturesome, and
well acclimated sportsman. but late years
1t Is almost wholly abandoned by white
men on account Of the deadly climate.
WILLIAM Fl. MICHAEL,
Consul General.