

27 



The inhabitants make a trade to fish up this sponge, by which 

 they get a living far from contemptible, as their goods are always 

 wanted by the Turks, who use an incredible number of sponges 

 at their bathings and washings. A girl in this island is not 

 permitted by her relatives to marry before she has brought up a 

 quantity of sponges, and before she can give a proof of her 

 agility by taking them up at a certain depth." To return to the 

 qualifications of a husband, Pomet says, " The greatest part of 

 the sponges that are sold come from the Mediterranean, and 

 there is a certain island of Asia that furnishes us with a very 

 large quantity of sponges. This island is called Icarus or 

 Nicarus, where fathers will not allow their daughters to marry 

 until the suitor can show that he can gather sponges from the 

 bottom of the sea ; and for this reason, when any one would 

 marry his daughter, a number of young fellows jump into the 

 sea, and he that can stay longest in the water and gather the 

 most sponges marries the maid ! These Icarian fathers evidently 

 put little faith in being " over head and ears in love," unless it 

 be accompanied by a fair development of the power to remain 

 "over head and ears" in water. 



