CHAPTER XXIX 



THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF BLENNIES 

 IN THE KELP 



HE old writers, especially the immortal Du 



Bartas, ascribed to fishes many of the attributes 



of human beings. He referred to their loves, 



and in the verses of Dr. Donne, quoted by 



Walton, we find: 



" When thou wilt swim in that live bath, 

 Each fish, which every channel hath, 

 Most amorously to thee will swim. 

 Gladder to catch thee, than thou him." 



'^lian, who wrote in the time of Hadrian, of artificial 

 May flies, described the Adonis of fishes ; and Walton says : 



" There are also lustful and chaste fishes of which I shall 

 give you examples." 



Du Bartas writes : 



" The adult'rous Sargus doth not only change 

 Wives every day, in the deep streams." 



And again : 



"But contrary, the constant Cantharus 

 Is ever constant to his faithful spouse; 

 In nuptial duties, spending his chaste life; 

 Never loves any but his own dear wife." 



And again : 



" But for chaste love the Mullet hath no peer." 



The romance of the fishes contains many stories of inter- 

 est, of which I may select one instance, and pass by the loves 

 of the sticklebacks and their nests, the domestic trials of the 



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