chap. I.] THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 35 



And 'tis considerable, that the Hen, which, because 

 she also takes any cock, expects it not, who is sure 

 the chickens be her own, hath by a moral impres- 

 sion her care and affection to her own brood more 

 than doubled, even to such a height, that our Savi- 

 our, in expressing his love to Jerusalem, Mat. xxiii. 

 37, quotes her for an example of tender affection ; 

 as his father had done Job for a pattern of patience. 



And to parallel this cock, there be divers fishes 

 that cast their spawn on flags or stones, and then 

 leave it uncovered, and exposed to become a prey, 

 and be devoured by vermin, or other fishes ; but 

 other fishes, as namely the Barbel, take such care 

 for the preservation of their seed, that unlike to the 

 cock or the cuckoo, they mutually labour, both the 

 spawner and the melter, to cover their spawn with 

 sand, or watch it, or hide it in some secret place, un- 

 frequented by vermin or by any fish but themselves. 



Sir, these examples may, to you and others, seem 

 strange ; but they are testified some by Aristotle, 

 some by Pliny, some by Gesner, and by many others 

 of credit, and are believed and known by divers, 

 both of wisdom and experience, to be a truth ; and 

 indeed are, as I said at the beginning, fit for the 

 contemplation of a most serious and a most pious 

 man. And, doubtless, this made the Prophet David 

 say, Psal. cvii. 23, 24., " They that occupy them- 

 " selves in deep waters see the wonderful works of 

 " God : " indeed such wonders and pleasures too as 

 the land affords not. 



