52 INTRODUCTION 



Japanese, perhaps the most alert and adaptive sea-fishers in 

 the world. As their history before 500 a.d. must apparently be 

 classed as legendary, this nation eludes my chronological Net. 

 Data on ancient fishing, if existing, are either unknown 1 or 

 as being derived from China find place postea.^ 



I set the time limit of my book at roughly 500 a.d., so as 

 to include the last classical or quasi-classical piscatory poems 

 viz. those of Ausonius — notably ad Mosellam — in the fourth 

 and of Sidonius in the fifth century. 



This date seems, indeed, a pre-ordained halting-place for 

 three reasons. First, the tackle of our day (though improved 

 almost beyond recognition in rod, winch, artificial bait, etc.) 

 is merely the hneal descendant of the Macedonian described 

 by ^Uan in the third century a.d. Second, between ^Elian 

 and Dame JuHana's Boke no record, with two possible excep- 

 tions, of fishing with a fly exists. Third, and more important, 

 we possess no real continuous Hnk between the Angling Utera- 

 ture of Rome down to the fifth century and that which sprang 

 up after the invention of printing some thousand years later. 



In the intervening centuries, it is true, books and manu- 

 scripts were written (mainly by monks) which treated more or 

 less of fishing, but of AngHng only incidentally. ^ The}- 

 illustrate the customs of fishermen, the natural history of fish, 

 the making and maintaining of vivaria or fish-ponds, rather 

 than instruct or inform on practical Fishing. 



The most notable would, could we trace it, be " an old MS. 

 treatise on fishing, found among the remains of the valuable 

 library belonging to the Abbey of St. Bertin, at St. Omer. 

 A paper on this was read, a few years before 1855, at a society 

 of antiquaries at Arras. From its style, the MS. was supposed 



1 Mr. Harold Parlett, our Consul at Dairen and an authority on Japan, 

 writes. " I know of no books in Japanese dealing with the history of fishing, 

 and I think it improbable that any exist, unless in MS. It is a subject, which 

 as far as I know, has not yet been studied. I should advise you to dismiss 

 ancient Japanese methods in as few words as possible." I follow his advice. 



2 On consulting a great Sinologist, he rapped out. " The only thing I 

 know or want to know of Japan is that every art. every craft, it possesses 

 came from China." 



» W. J. Turrcll, Ancient Angling Authors (London, 1910). P- xi. Ancient, 

 in this most researchful work, might. 1 venture to suggest, be quahfied by 

 British, for six pages (in the Preface) suffice for all fishing before the tenth 

 century. 



