g heard. But in the cold weather,
when the river is calm, the ear is attracted at once by the hissing
puff of expiration, and the animal may be seen to bound almost out
of the water. Dr. Anderson had one alive in captivity for ten days,
and carefully watched its respirations. "The blow-hole opened
whenever it reached the surface of the water. The characteristic
expiratory sound was produced, and so rapid was the inspiration that
the blow-hole seemed to close immediately after the expiratory act."
He states that "the respirations were tolerably frequent, occurring
at intervals of about one-half or three-quarters of a minute, and
the whole act did not take more than a few seconds for its
fulfilment." But it is probable that in a free state and in perfect
health the animal remains longer under water. It has certainly been
longer on several occasions when I have watched for the reappearance
of one in the river. The food of the Gangetic dolphin consists chiefly
of fish and crustacea; occasionally grains of rice and remains of
insects are found in the stomach, but these are doubtless, as Dr.
Anderson conjectures, in the fish swallowed by the dolphin. The
period of gestation is said to be eight to nine months, and usually
only one at a time is born, between April and July. The young are
sometimes caught with their mothers, and are said to cling by holding
on by the mouth to the base of the parent's pectoral fins. "The flesh
and blubber are occasionally eaten by many of the low caste Hindus
of India, such as the Gurhwals, the Domes of Jessore and Dacca
districts, the Harrees, Bourees, Bunos, Bunpurs, Tekas, Tollahas,
the Domes of Burdwan and Bhagulpore, who compare it to venison; also
by the Teewars and Machooas of Patna, the Mussahars of Shahabad, the
Gourhs and Teers of Tirhoot, and the Mullahs of Sarun. In the
North-west Provinces about Allahabad, the Chumars, Passees, Kooras,
Khewuts or Mullahs, have rather a high estimate of the flesh, which
they assert resembles turtle. The Koonths of Benares, Phunkeahs,
Natehmurrahs, and Buahoas of Moradabad, and also such gipsy tribes
as the Sainsees, Kunjars and Hubbossahs, in the neighbourhood of
Meerut, do not despise it. In the Punjab we find the Choorahs, Dhapels,
Sainsees, Budous, and Burars eating the flesh; and in Sind the Kehuls.
The Moras, a tribe of Mahomedan boatmen who lead a wandering life
on the streams in the Punjab and in Sind, subsist on the dolphin when
by good chance