84 HOMER— METHODS OF FISHING 



then, would last on in use, anglers being highly conservative, 

 and I shall look out for it." 



Maspero,! however, states, " Objects in bone and horn 

 are still among the rarities of our museums : horn is perishable 

 and is eagerly devoured by certain insects, which rapidly 

 destroy it," with which statement may be compared Od., XXI. 

 395, " lest the worms might have eaten the horns " (of the bow 

 of Odysseus). 



Finally the explanation first suggested by Mr. C. E. Haskins 2 

 and adopted by Dr. Leaf, that Kepag was an artificial bait of 

 horn, appears to me as an angler and as having seen in the 

 Pacific, but not used, " bait fish-hooks made of shell all in one 

 piece, of a simple hooked form without any barb," ^ to be 

 perhaps the most hkely solution of our problem. 



According to Mr. Haskins, Kepag means an artificial bait of 

 horn, probably shaped Hke a small fish, and hollow at all events 

 at the upper end, into which a fxoXvftdaiva (lead) was inserted 

 to sink it. It had hooks of x^^^^^^Q fastened to it and was used 

 by being thrown out, allowed to sink, and then rapidly drawn 

 through the water to attract the fish by its ghtter and motion. 

 The H^ara may either be the same as the Ktpag mentioned 

 in the next hne, or more probably ground bait thrown in to 

 attract fish to the spot, while the use of the present participle, 

 Kara . . . (5aXXwv, seems to imply constant action, i.e. the 

 fisherman throwing in at intervals a handful of ground bait. 



While I have not, like Mr. Haskins, " caught many trout 

 with artificial baits made of horn," I can vouch that in England 

 horn minnows still exist and that horn spoons are even now 

 used for pike. 



We find in Homer no special variety of fishes, except eels 

 and dolphins. Eels are not ranked in a strict sense as fish; 

 the words are " both eels and fishes " (//., XXI. 203, 353). 

 Sea calves and seals also find a place. Other fish occur in the 

 picture of Scylla {Od., XII. 95) : " and there she fishes (<x^i'"'?) 

 swooping round the rock, for dolphins or sea-dogs, or whatso 



* Maspero, Egyptian Archcsology, p. 270. 



2 " On Homeric Fishing Tackle," Jour, of Philology, XIX., 1891. 



8 Described by Mr. Moseley, Notes by a Naturalist on the Challenger, p. 467. 



