the little fish would be hauled in until the boats were deep in the water and the Royal ladies exhausted. At the right season, there are few more delicate flavoured fish than the Kěrisi and they remind one of really good Whiting.
But they must be absolutely fresh and caught on the right ground; if out of season or stale, Kĕrisi have an unpleasant tang about them.
The Dělah (Caesio spp.) are small but good eating, the best being, perhaps, C. pinjalu which is also known as Ikan merah china and is in no way inferior to the Ikan merah as a table delicacy.
Of the genus Sparus, three species are mentioned in this book, one of which, the Běras-běras (S. sarba), is the Tarwhine of Queensland and New South Wales, where it is considered a good edible fish.
It is not to be compared however, either from a sporting or an edible point of view, with its congener the Black Bream (S. australis), which has not been recorded as inhabiting Malayan waters.
The Asoh-asoh (Lethrinus nebulosus) is another useful fish in this family. The inside of its mouth is orange coloured as is that of its relative the Yellow-mouthed Snapper (L. chrysostomus) of Australia.
RED MULLETS.
(MULLIDAE.)
Members of this family are known as Red Mullets in Great Britain and as "Goat-fishes" or "Surmullets" in America.
The British species are Mullus barbatus and M. surmuletus, remarkable for their beautiful pink or red colour, and much valued on the market, although no longer held in the high estimation for which they were noted by the Romans.
Biji nangka or Lěbai are the Malayan generic names of our local members of this family and are descriptive. The Biji nangka (Jack-fruit seed) is yellow and has a filamentous process similar to the barbel of the Red Mullet; a Lěbai is a Malay of exceptional pious habit, and it will be noticed that he almost invariably sports a beard consisting, as a rule, of about two or three long hairs, and his fellow countrymen have hit off the resemblance to the fish, which has two long barbels dependent from the lower jaw.
The Ikan lěbai are remarkably beautiful fishes and their brilliant colouring contrasts somewhat with the solemn aspect of the head, which is, perhaps, an additional reason for the Malay nickname.
One of our local species (Upeneus tragula) is known in Australia as the Bar-tailed Goat-fish.
