TESTACEOUS FISHES. 



forty or fifty pounds weight fastened to it to keep him 

 down to the bottom. 



The wretched people who attend those fisheries are 

 generally slaves, and are mostly cut off' in the prime 

 of life; for the pressure of the air upon the lungs at 

 the bottom of the water, is too great for the human 

 frame to sustain; and a consumption is almost always 

 the consequence. Thus an insignificant glittering 

 gem is obtained at the expence of a number of human 

 Jives. 



Shell fish of the multivalve kind are too numerous 

 to admit of investigation in this place; and of so ma- 

 ny various species, that a naturalist would be baffled 

 to make a judicious selection. Every one is ah object 

 of curiosity; all of them claim the diversity of na- 

 ture's works, and the wonders of creative wisdom. 



I shall now, my dear Sir, leave you to reflect on 

 the immense variety displayed in those numerous 

 tribes, and beg leave to assure you, that, with un- 

 feigned affection, 



I am, dear Sir, 



Yours, &. 



LETTER LIX. 



" Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes." 



v SHAKSFEAKE. 



*' Like a fall'n cedar, far diffus'd his train, 

 Cas'd in green scales, the crocodile extends." 



THOMSON. 



BEAR SIR, 



i SHALL now give you a glance at a race not less 

 numerous, and scarcely les^s various, than that oa 

 which I last treated. This is the reptile race, of 

 which the almost innumerable tribes may be compre- 

 hended under the frog, toad, lizard, and serpent 

 kinds. However uninteresting many of these may 

 appear, or however disgusting their figure may seem 



