REMORA. OR SUCKING-FISH. 12? 



and able as they will, can performe. She bridleth 

 the violence and tamest the greatest rage of this 

 universall world, and that without any paine that 

 she putteth herself e unto, without any holding and 

 putting backe, or any other raeanes save only by 

 cleaving and sticking fast to a vessell : in such sort 

 as this one small and poore fish is sufficient to resist 

 and withstand so great a power of both sea and 

 navie, yea and to stop the passage of a ship, do all 

 what they can possible to the contrarie." He goes 

 on to say, that it was this little fish which stayed 

 the progress of Marc Anthony's ship, in the naval 

 engagement between him and Augustus Cassar, and 

 caused the defeat of the former ; and that Caligula 

 once suffered a similar accident, which was the 

 harbinger of his downfall. In the latter case, ac- 

 cording to our author, " So soon as even the vessell 

 (and a galliaie it was, furnished with five banks of 

 ores to a side) was perceived alone in the fleete to 

 stand still, presently a number of tall fellows leapt 

 out of their ships into the sea, to search what tho- 

 reason might be that it stirreth not ? and found one 

 of these fishes sticking fast to the very helme : which 

 being reported unto Caius Caligula, he fumed and 

 fared as an Emperour, taking great indignation that 

 so small a thing as it, should hold him back perforce, 

 and check the strength of all his mariners, notwith- 

 standing there w T ere no fewer than foure hundred 

 lustie men in his gallie that laboured at the ore all 

 that ever they could to the contrarie/' And, if 

 Naturalists could be thus easily imposed upon with 



