103 



who wa-s a koon fisher, was told by Cleopatra to "leave fishing to us 

 petty princes of Pharos and Canopus." Leave it, is the sentimtuit oftoo 

 many of our eonnrrymeii, to " tlie ignorant, the si][)erstitious, ;ind the 

 improvident;" and a single remark more may not, therefore, be ill- 

 timed. 



Bradfvird and Winslow, both of whom were governors, with Alden, 

 Standish, Brewster, Allerfon, and Rowland, as assoei;ites, M'ere not 

 onl}' lessees of fisheries, but of the whole commerce of the colony for a 

 term of years. 



These were nil ISfnyflower Pilgi'ims, and all signers of the compact 

 at Cape Cod, before the landing, in which the great principle that the 

 *'majorit^^ shall govern" is recognised. Of Allerton, indeed, we may 

 speak as of a regular dealer in fisli and furs, since we find thatheow^ned 

 vessels, conducted a fisheiy at Marblehend, made voyages to diflerent 

 parts of Maine, €^tahlislied a trading-house far within territory claimed 

 as Acadia, and in Connecticut received products of the sea for sale on 

 a share of the profits. In fine, he was one of the most active and en- 

 terprising men of his day, and, though devoted to trade, was employed 

 in arranging tlie most dillicult concerns of the colony bv)tli at home and 

 in England. To cross the ocean two centuries ago was a matter of 

 vast moment, but Allerton visited the country of his birth no less than 

 five times in the brief space of four years. 



Such, in conclusion, were some of the men who devoted time and 

 txilents to a business tii only for " the ignorant, the superstitious, and 

 the improvident." 



a vomif before suppiiiir viith Cicero, the Ix'tter to make an enonnous meal. When one of the 

 Bf-oics saw The workfi of Lueullus on the seacoast — the immense eelhu's and vaults, fisli-ixmds 

 mid re-servoir.s, \v)iie)i he had eoiis/rueted — he called liim " Xerxes in a gown." And Cato, tho 

 censor, in complaining of his coinitrymeu, said, "It was a hard matter to save Rome from ruiu, 

 %vhen a fish was sohl for more rhaii an ox." The Koman emperor Elagabalus, according to 

 fJihhon, " would never eat sea-fish except at a great distance from the sea. He then would 

 di.srrihnte vasr (juantities of the rarest sores, brought at an inuneiuse expense, to the peasants 

 of rhe inliuid country." Marc Antony is gaid to have giveu the house of a Eoman citizeu to a 

 oook who ))rt'](ared tor iiim a good siij)])er. 



.Soiiii- ol' the most eminent warriors and statesmen wore extravagantly fond of fishing. An- 

 Uiuy was one of these. 'J'he remark ((uote<l in the text is to be found in riutarch, \\ho relates 

 tJi(! following story : " He was fishing one day with Cleopatra, and hud ill success ; whieh, in tho 

 I)resence of his mistress, he looked upon as a disgrace, lie therefore ordered ()ne of his assist- 

 ants to divi', and put on his hook such as had l)een ttikeii before. This scheme he i)Ut in prac- 

 ti(t(^ tliree <»r four times, and Cleojmrra juTceived it. She affected, howevtu", to i)e sur])rise<l 

 at his success, expressing her wonder to the jx'oph' about her; and, the day following, invited 

 tiu-m to 8<'e fresh ])roofs of it. Wiieu tlie day ibllowiiig came, the vessel was crowded with 

 prople; and as soon us Antfuiy had let down his line, she ordered one of Jier divers immedi- 

 atfly to put a salt-fisli on liis hook. A\']ieu Antony found he )iad caught his fish, he drew up 

 his line; iiiid tills, as may be su|iposrd, occasioned no small mirth among the s])eefat(M's. 'Go, 

 (ji'iii-ral,' said Cleopatra, 'leave fishing to us petty princes of Pluiros and Cuuopus : your 

 gain(' is cities, kingdoms, and provinces.'" 



Travellers in modem tinu's find the ruins of Roman fish-ponds. At Agrigentnim is seen an 

 artifi<-ial hike, about a <piarier of a leagui^ in circumference, dug out of .sidid rock hy tlie Car- 

 tliagfiiiaii ca]itives, and to which water was conveyed from the hills. It was thirty feet deep; 

 and great (|uaiititicH of fish were kept in it for the pul)lic feasts. The fish-ponds of Nero wer.o 

 HiniK'rous ; ajid the Coliseum is said to have heeii errct<>d on the .site of one of tliem. fishinj; 

 nets, some of them (piite entire, have be<'n found in great mimbers iu llerculanemn, as well irn 

 m I'ompeii- 



