o 



10? 



who was a keen fisher, was told by Cleopatra to "leave fishmg to us 

 petty princes of Pharos and Canopus." Leave it, is the senthnent of too 

 many of our countrjanen, to "the ignorant, the superstitious, and the 

 improvident;" and a single remark more ma}^ not, therefore, be ill- 

 timed. 



Bradford and Winslow, both of whom were governors, with Alden, 

 Stnndish, Brewster, AUerton, and Howland, as associates, were not 

 only lessees of fisheries, but of the whole commerce of the colony for a 

 tei'in of years. 



These were all Mayflower Pilgi'ims, and all signers of the compact 

 at Cape Cod, before the landing, in which the great principle that the 

 *' majority shall govern" is recognised. Of AUerton, indeed, we may 

 speak as of a regular dealer in fish and furs, since we find that he owned 

 vessels, conducted a fishery at Marblehead, made voyages to different 

 parts of Maine, established a trading-house far within territory claimed 

 as Acadia, and in Connecticut received products of the sea for sale on 

 a share of the profits. In fine, he was one of the most active and en- 

 terprising men of his day, and, though devoted to trade, was employed 

 in arranoino^ the most difficult concerns of the colonv both at home and 

 in England. To cross the ocean two centuries ago was a matter of 

 vast moment, but AUerton visited the country of his birth no less than 

 five times in the brief spa.ce of lour years. 



Such, in conclusion, were some of the men who devoted time and 

 talents, to a business fit only for "the ignorant, the superstitious, and 

 tlie improvident." 



a vomit before snppiupj with Cicero, the better to make an enormous meal. When one of the 

 Sr^ies saw the worlvs of Lucuihis on the soacoast — the immense celhxrs and vaults, fish-ponds 

 and reservoirs, which he had constructed — he called him " Xerxes in a go\vii." And Cato, tho 

 censor, in complaining of his comitrymeu, said, " It was a hard matter to save Rome from ruin, 

 when a fish was sold for more than an ox." The Eomau emperor Elagabalus, according to 

 Gibbon, " would never eat sea-fish except at a great distance from the sea. He then would 

 distribute vast quantities of the rarest sorts, brought at an immense expense, to the peasants 

 of the inland countrj." Marc Ajitouy is said to have given the house of a Roman citizen to a 

 (v>ok who prepared for him a good supper. 



Some of the most eminent warriors and statesmen were extravagantly fond of fishing. An- 

 tony was one of these. The remark quoted in the text is to be foimd in I'lutarch, who relates 

 the following story : " He was fishing one day with Cleopatra, and had ill success ; which, in the 

 presence of his mistress, he looked upon as a disgrace. He therefore ordered one of his assist- 

 ants to dive, and put on his hook such as had been taken before. This scheme he put in prac- 

 tice three or four times, and Cleopatra perceived it. She affected, however, to be surprised 

 at his success, expressing her wonder to the people about her; and, the day following, invited 

 tliem to see fresh proofs of it. V/hen the day followmg came, the vessel was crowded with 

 people; and as soon as Antony had let down his line, she ordered one of her divers immedi- 

 ately to put a salt-fish on his hook. When Antony found he had caught his fish, he drew up 

 his line; and this, as may be supposed, occasioned no small mirth among the spectators. 'Go, 

 General,' said Cleopatra, 'leave fishing to us petty princes of Pharos and Canopus: your 

 game is cities, kingdoms, and provinces.' " 



Travellers in modern times find the ruins of Roman fish-ponds. At Agrigentum is seen an 

 artificial lake, about a quarter of a league in circumference, dug out of solid rock by the Car- 

 thageniim captives, and to which water was conveyed from the liills. It was thirty feet deep; 

 and great quantities of fish were kept in it for the' public feasts. The fish-ponds of Nero weso 

 numerous ; and the Coliseum is said to have been erected on the site of one of them. Fishing 

 nets, some of them quite entire, have been foimd in great numbers in Herculaneum, as well as 

 la Pompeii. 



