_Fishes._--All the waters of India--the sea, the rivers and the tanks--swarm with a great variety of fishes, which are caught in every conceivable way, and furnish a considerable proportion of the food of the poorer classes. They are eaten fresh, or as nearly fresh as may be, for the art of curing them is not generally practised, owing to the exigencies of the salt monopoly. In Burma the favourite relish of _nga-pi_ is prepared from fish; and at Goalanda, at the junction of the Brahmaputra with the Ganges, and along the Madras coast many establishments exist for salting fish in bond. The indiscriminate slaughter of fry, and the obstacles opposed by irrigation dams to breeding fish, are said to be causing a sensible diminution in the supply in certain rivers. Measures of conservancy have been suggested, but their execution would be almost impracticable. Among Indian fishes, the _Cyprinidae_ or carp family and the _Siluridae_ or cat-fishes are best represented. From the angler's point of view, by far the finest fish is the _mahseer_ (_Barbustor_), found in all hill streams, whether in Assam, the Punjab or the South. One has been caught weighing 60 lb., which gave play for more than seven hours. Though called the salmon of India, the _mahseer_ is really a species of barbel. One of the richest and most delicious of Indian fishes is the _hilsa_ (_Clupea ilisha_), which tastes and looks like a fat white salmon. But the enhanced price of fish and the decreased supply throughout the country are matters of grave concern both to the government and the people. _Insects._--The insect tribes in India may be truly said to be innumerable. The heat and the rains give incredible activity to noxious or troublesome insects, and to others of a more showy class, whose large wings surpass in brilliancy the most splendid colours of art. Mosquitoes are innumerable, and moths and ants of the most destructive kind, as well as others equally noxious and disagreeable. Amongst those which are useful are the bee, the silk-worm, and the insect that produces lac. Clouds of locusts occasionally appear, which leave no trace of green behind them, and give the country over which they pass the appearance of a desert. Their size is about that of a man's finger, and their colour reddish. They are swept north by the wind till they strike upon the outer ranges of the Himalayas. POLITICAL DIVISIONS India (including Burma) has a total area of 1,766,597 sq. m., and a population (1901) of 294,361,056. Of this total, 1,087,204 sq. m., with a population of 231,899,515, consists of British territory, administered directly by British officers; while the remaining 679,393 sq. m., with a population of 62,461,549, is divided up among various native states, all of which acknowledge the suzerainty of the paramount power, but are directly administered by semi-independent rulers, usually assisted by a British resident.