FISHES THE FOOD OF MAN. 15 



to serve by way of a simile. Fishes were 

 among the subjects of natural history on which 

 Solomon is recorded to have written ; but his 

 writings on these things have not been pre- 

 served, probably because, not being of a cha- 

 racter exclusively sacred, they were excluded 

 from the archives of the priesthood. 



At a far later period of the Jewish history 

 than that included in the Old Testament, the 

 use of fish as food was very prevalent ;* and 

 we find that, on several occasions, our Saviour 

 condescended to exercise his miraculous powers 

 upon these creatures, thereby demonstrating 

 that the laws of matter were subject to his 

 control. We may first allude to the two mira- 

 cles of the loaves and fishes. In both instances, 

 it was adjacent to the Lake of Tiberias, or 

 Gennesaret, also called the Sea of Galilee, (the 

 Bahr-el-Tabarieh of modern days,) that our 

 Saviour fed the hungering multitude. This 

 lake is from twelve to fifteen miles long, and 

 from six to nine wide, and is surrounded by 

 mountains and beautiful scenery. The water is 

 cool and clear, and at the present day abounds 

 with fish, while its borders are the resort of 

 innumerable water fowl. The course of the 



* " If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, 

 will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish 

 give him a serpent ? " Luke xi. 11. 



