310 Big Game Fisbes 



tors, as an offering to Cardinal Riario, nephew of 

 Pope Sixtus IV. Tomasio, being well acquainted 

 with this prelate, gladly joined the procession; 

 but Riario, delighting in a play of words, said 

 that the head of the greatest of fishes should by 

 right go to the greatest of cardinals, and sent it 

 accordingly to Cardinal St. Severin, who was of 

 extraordinary bulk. St. Severin, in his turn, de- 

 spatched it in a golden dish to the wealthy banker 

 Chigi, to whom he owed money. This time To- 

 masio, in his eager pursuit, had to traverse the 

 whole city and to cross the Tiber on his way 

 to the Farnesian palace, which Chigi had built. 

 Chigi, however, did not retain the much-prized 

 head, but after replacing the faded garlands by 

 newly gathered flowers, sent it to his mistress, 

 whose abode lay a good way off. There Tamisio, 

 who, though fat and unwieldy, had tracked the 

 object of his desires, under a hot sun, over a 

 whole city, was at length permitted to enjoy the 

 luxury he had endured so much toil to obtain. 



The persistence of Tamisio was a bagatelle 

 compared to the journeys of modern anglers, who 

 cross oceans and continents to take the fishes of 

 their choice. The modern Tamisio is an angler, 

 his object being to take a big sea-drum with light 



