Response to the memorandum on fishing in Bengal in general and small-scale fishing on the banks of the Ganges and elsewhere In the Ganges, fishing takes place all year round using nets, and various fish are caught, as shown, with their colour, length and size, and their names in Bengal. In the month of May, when the rains begin to fall, small shad are caught. At the end of November, in some years, large quantities are caught. They block the river with bamboo stakes, leaving only two passages where they place bag-shaped nets, and they catch all the fish in the stream and in the weir. The shad is salted in the same way as herring, which tastes good. The shad is salted in a different way. The fish are cut into pieces and salted for 24 hours. They are then removed from the salt, rubbed with tamarind the thickness of a sheet of paper, and placed in a pot. A month later, the fish are washed and fried, and eaten. They have no bones. The tamarind is edible and appetising. Half vinegar is added to the tamarind, so the fish is not sour. Everyone prepares it according to their taste (margin: keeps for a year). Three days further up the river, a species of sardine is caught, but not in large quantities. It has a fairly good taste. Europeans salt it in brine and smoke it like pickled herring. (Transcribed by Bernard Allaire)
