THE SAFETY INSTINCT OF FISH. 23 



former has a square, or rounded tail, while the other 

 has a forked tail. The cat-fish grows to enormous 

 size. In the rivers of the South and West it some- 

 times reaches one hundred pounds. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE SAFETY INSTINCT OF FISH. 



WHEN a wise Creator filled the forests with game 

 and the waters with fish, there is no doubt He fore- 

 saw that they were in time destined to disappear. 

 With His far- seeing eye, He knew that the tillers of 

 the soil would furnish a substitute for the game. He 

 placed enough of the game within the reach of the 

 pioneer, so that he could have fresh meat for himself 

 and family until they could raise crops, cattle, sheep, 

 and fowls, and it would then be unnecessary for them 

 to depend upon the natives of the wild woods for 

 subsistence. With fish the case was different ; there 

 was no substitute for them. It was inevitable that a 

 lighter food would be necessary for the health of His 

 people, and in consequence thereof, He gave each 

 fish large quantities of eggs so they would not 

 diminish; but it was in the order of things that not 

 more than one egg in five hundred cast, would 

 hatch naturally and grow to a size sufficient for table 

 use. 



He also foresaw that in time the earth's surface 

 would be thickly populated, and that the food re- 



