10 BRITISH FISH AND FISHERIES. 



note from j^Elian, who speaks of tame fishes, that 

 wore gold necklaces and ear-rings, in a clear 

 fountain, belonging to the military Jupiter." 



That there were sacred fishes among the 

 ancient Egyptians is proved, not only by their 

 mummies found in catacombs of Abousir, but 

 by their representations on the sculptured 

 monuments, with those of other animals to 

 which idolatrous veneration was paid ; and 

 hence it might be, that though fishes were 

 allowed as food to the common people, the 

 priests abstained from them, lest their purity 

 should be endangered. Other sacred animals 

 indeed they eat, (the head excepted,) but the 

 inconsistencies of their practice ought not to 

 surprise us. The following note in the Pictorial 

 Bible is not without interest, but it leaves the 

 subject open to conjecture : " Diodorus says, 

 that, from the time of the king Moeris, a great 

 body of men found continual occupation in 

 salting the fish caught in the lake dug by that 

 prince. Diodorus also describes the Nile as 

 abounding in fish, not only sufficient to supply 

 them with fresh fish, but to enable them to salt 

 large quantities for exportation, He adds, with 

 truth, that there was not in the world a river 

 more serviceable to mankind than the Nile. 

 The Egyptians are the first people whom history 



