INTRODUCTORY 



or excitement, or danger in it. Often the land monster 

 or the sea monster seemed to threaten him with death 

 whether he hunted it or no ; therefore he felt driven to 

 slay it in self-defence ; and, when slain, what was more 

 natural than that its flesh should be eaten and its non- 

 edible parts utilised as clothing, ornament, tool, or 

 weapon ? 



When our fathers had learned the art of making and 

 managing rafts or boats, they found that many fish which 

 could not be obtained in shallow water might easily be 

 caught at some distance from the shore. The appliances 

 for catching them baited hooks, nets, and baskets made 

 of skin or fibre or twigs would suggest themselves, 

 necessity being the mother of invention. 



Then, as agriculture and the mechanical arts developed, 

 it became the business of those who still refused to follow 

 a land trade, to sell or barter the fish which they did not 

 need to people who had not the time or the inclination 

 to procure such food for themselves. And it was in this 

 way that an industry began which, to-day in many 

 countries, ranks in importance with agriculture, and often 

 with manufactures. 



By observation the fisherman or the fish-eater gradually 

 learned that at one time of the year certain fish were more 

 palatable or more plentiful than at another ; that during 

 some months shell-fish, for example, were nutritious, 

 during others poisonous ; thus the " season " for any 

 special fish became recognised and defined. As the con- 

 sumer's palate grew more discriminating, one fish was 

 found to be richer in taste than another ; and so creatures 



18 



