HISTORY 13 



the assimilative power of his stomach. 

 The sumptuous dinner of a single family 

 would often leave a heap of shells a foot 

 high, a monument of a dining capacity 

 which cannot be equalled by our pre-war 

 aldermanic banquetings. The rudeness of 

 the implements found in these shell heaps 

 points to people of very ancient, if low, 

 civilization, and provides a convincing 

 proof that mankind was a fisher before the 

 dawn of history. 



Many of our ancient cities were founded 

 by fishermen, who selected the sites on 

 account of their proximity to fishing 

 grounds, and also for the favoured position 

 they offered for sheltering their frail craft 

 from the weather. From this beginning 

 world-famous cities like Tyre, Byzantium, 

 Venice, Marseilles, and Amsterdam have 

 had their foundation. So famous have 

 many of these cities become, that the reason 

 why the site was chosen to-day appears 

 almost incredible. The glories of Tyre and 

 Sidon have faded long ago, and they are 

 again small villages, object lessons in the 

 rise and fall of empires. Venice was saved 

 from the barbarians by her security in the 



