16 



becomes contracted, by the birds drawing closer 

 together, the fish are at length brought within a 

 narrow compass, where their pursuers find no 

 difficulty in securing them. 



One species of cormorant is so docile, Fre- 

 derick added, that they are trained by the Chi- 

 nese to fish for their masters. Sir George 

 Staunton saw several boats with a dozen of 

 these birds in each; at a signal they plunged 

 into the water, and quickly returned with a prize 

 in their mouths, which they never attempted to 

 swallow without permission. 



My aunt said that those birds were formerly 

 kept in this country for the same purpose ; but 

 the English cormorants were not so tractable, for 

 a thong was tied round their neck to prevent their 

 eating the fish. Charles the First, she says, 

 had his master of cormorants as well as his fal- 

 coners. 



Hth, Sunday. My uncle this morning re- 

 peated his advice never to allow ourselves to 

 judge of detached phrases or single texts in the 

 Bible, without carefully comparing them with 

 similar passages in other parts ; and he added, 

 that it was very unjust to charge the Bible with 

 the errors of its translators, or to ascribe the mis- 

 takes and inconsistencies of human learning to 

 the inspired original. " The wonder is," he says, 

 " not that there are some mistakes, but that there 



