48 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



first begin with a commendation of the earth, as you have done 

 most excellently of the air ; the earth being that element upon 

 which I drive my pleasant, wholesome, hungry trade. The 

 earth is a solid settled element ; an element most universally 

 beneficial both to man and beast ; to men who have their several 

 recreations upon it, as horse races, hunting, sweet smells, 

 pleasant walks : the earth feeds man and all those several beasts 

 that both feed him and afford him recreation. What pleasure 

 doth man take in hunting the stately stag, the generous buck, 

 the wild boar, the cunning otter, the crafty fox, and the fearful 

 hare ! And if I may descend to a lower game, what pleasure 

 is it sometimes with gins to betray the very vermin of the earth! 

 as namely, the Fichat, the Fulimart, the Ferret, the Polecat,* the 

 Mouldwarp,f and the like creatures that live upon the face and 

 within the bowels of the earth. How doth the earth bring 

 forth herbs, flowers, and fruits, both for physic and the pleasure 

 of mankind ; and above all, to me at least, the fruitful vine, of 

 which when I drink moderately, it clears my brain, cheers my 

 heart, and sharpens my wit. How could Cleopatra have feasted 

 Mark Antony with eight wild boars roasted whole at one supper, 

 and other meat suitable, if the earth had not been a bountiful 

 mother ? But to pass by the mighty Elephant, which the earth 

 breeds and nourisheth, and descend to the least of creatures, 

 how doth the earth afford us a doctrinal example in the little 

 Pismire, who, in the summer, provides and lays up her winter 

 provision, and teaches man to do the like ! J The earth feeds 

 and carries those horses that carry us ! If I would be prodigal of 

 my time and your patience, what might not I say in commenda- 

 tions of the earth, that puts limits to the proud and raging sea, 

 and by that means preserves both man and beast that it destroys 

 them not, as we see it daily doth those that venture upon the 

 sea, and are there shipwrecked, drowned, and left to feed 

 haddocks ; when we that are so wise as to keep ourselves on earth, 

 walk, and talk, and live, and eat, and drink, and go a-hunting ; 

 of which recreation I will say a little, and then leave Mr Piscator 

 to the commendation of Angling. 



Hunting is a game for princes and noble persons. It hath been 

 highly prized in all ages : it was one of the qualifications that 

 Xenophon bestowed on his Cyrus, that he was a hunter of wild 

 beasts. Hunting trains up the younger nobility to the use of 

 manly exercises in their riper age. What more manly exercise 

 than hunting the wild boar, the stag, the buck, the fox, or the 



* The fitrhet, or fitchew ; the fulimart, or fumart ; the ferret, and the 

 polecat, appear to be all the same species, (mustefa prttortus. ) J. R. 



t The mole, still called mouduwart in Scotland J. R. 



j This is a popular mistake. Ants remain torpid, or nearly so, during 

 winter, and do not then eat, as I have repeatedly proved, by opening their- 

 nests, in which I never could detect any winter provision of food. J. R. 



