The romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir - Khamkoo

SRINAGAR TO BARAMULA 191
taining fishermen who were using
a sort of hoe on
a long pole (kamkhuru) to gather great quantities
of singharas which (caltrops) grow on the bottom
of the lake. These are heart-shaped water-nuts
with four curved horns measuring 3 to 4 inches
between their extremities. The nuts are dried,
pounded, ground into flour, and made into a sort of
bread which is eaten by the poorer people. The
called kanga.
From other fishermen we bought mahsir, which
shells are utilised as a fuel which is
they called pairim gad (" Punjab fish ").
The mahsir
is a carp with a greenish-brown back and bronze
sides, which is,
however, more like a salmon in shape.
It is the great sporting fish of India, and has been
known to attain the weight of 150 pounds
;
but
40 pounds
is a good ordinary size, and those we
saw in the Kashmir only ran to about 4 pounds.
Cooked when freshly caught the mahsir is an
excellent fish for the table.
Our manjhi prepared for us very palatable meals,
and we found that the Kashmiri names for
breakfast,
lunch, and dinner are nipari, mimuz, and
battakheu. We had bought such tinned things
as we thought we should require, and sufficient