136 LIVING CREATURES. 



crowded. It is no wonder, then, that in ancient times 

 the net broke on account of the multitude of fishes. 

 When the net was drawn ashore, the fish were sorted. 

 They gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad 

 away. We know pretty well what the "bad" were; 

 they were the eel-like fish, which were forbidden by 

 the Jewish law to be used as food, because they had 

 no scales. (Lev. xi:io). 



It is likely that the hook is older than the net. 

 There are evidences that savages, long before history 

 was written, used fish-hooks made from the bones of 

 animals, and even from the jaw-bone of the human 

 head. From the remote ages until now, the spear has 

 been used in clear waters for killing fish. The ancient 

 Egyptians made hooks of bronze, and our Saxon an- 

 cestors made hooks from flints. The ancient Scythians 

 practiced a droll method of catching the great cat-fish 

 in the river Danube. The fisherman drove a pair of 

 oxen to a convenient point on the river bank and set 

 them at feeding. 



He laid the yoke down near the edge of the water, 

 fastening a rope to it. To the other end of the rope a 

 strong hook was attached, baited with liver and weight- 

 ed with a sufficiently heavy sinker. The hook was 

 then cast into the. middle of the stream. By and by a 

 huge fish finds the bull's meat, which he dearly loves, 

 opens his immense jaws, swallows the morsel and starts 

 off on his course as many another poor glutton of a 

 fish has done. 



The fisherman observes this performance with de- 

 light; jumps to his feet; yokes his oxen, and then 

 there is a great contest between the strength of two 



