The Compleat ^Angler 



a dead fish's shell, and like 



a hermit dwells there alone, 



studying the wind and 



weather, and so turns her 



shell, that she makes it de- 

 fend her from the injuries 



that they would bring upon 



her. 



There is also a fish called, 



by ./Elian (in his ninth book 



of Living Creatures , chap. 



1 6), the Adonis, or darling 



of the sea ; so called because 



it is a loving and innocent 



fish, a fish that hurts nothing 



that hath life, and is at peace 



with all the numerous in- 

 habitants of that vast watery 



element : and truly I think 



most anglers are so disposed 



to most of mankind. 



And there are also lustful 



and chaste fishes, of which I 



shall give you examples. 

 And first Du Bartas says 



of a fish called the sargus ; which (because none can express it 



better than he does) I shall give you in his own words ; supposing 



it shall not have the less credit for being in verse ; for he hath 



gathered this and other observations out of authors that have been 



great and industrious searchers into the secrets of nature. 

 The adulterous sargus doth not only change 

 Wives every day^ in the deep streams^ but^ strange^ 

 As if the honey of sea-love delight 

 Could not suffice his raging appetite^ 

 Goes courting she-goats on the grassy shore^ 

 Horning their husbands that had horns hefore. 



49 



