160 FISHING GOSSIP. 



Though changed his form, his avarice remains, 

 And in his breast the love of lucre reigns, 

 For Saturn, flying from victorious Jove, 

 Compelled of old in banishment to rove 

 Along th' Italian shore, a vessel found 

 Beyond the lake of wide Benachus bound. 

 He for his passage at a price agreed, 

 And with large gifts of gold the master fee'd ; 

 But he, the master, Carpus was he named, 

 With thirst of gain and love of gold inflamed, 

 Prepared in chains the passenger to bind. 

 But to the God his face betrayed his mind, 

 And from the vessel, in revenge, he threw, 

 Into the waves the pilot and his crew ; 

 Then into fish the traitors he transformed ; 

 The traitors, still with love of lucre warmed, 

 The sailing ships for golden fragments trace, 

 And prove themselves derived from human race." 



Taking into consideration the difficulty of catching 

 a carp by ordinary means, this avariciously-inclined 

 fish may be an emblem of the typical golden hook, 

 with which the followers of the gentle art are not 

 unfrequently taunted. 



A fish, nearly allied to, if not perfectly identical 

 with, our English carp, is found in several Indian 

 rivers, where it is called Eohita, a name given by 

 Cuvier as a generic appellation to several of the 

 Indian Cyprinidae. This fish has a sort of semi-sacred 

 character, among both the Hindoo and Mussulman 

 population of the East. In the Hindoo myth" 



