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CHAPTER X. 

 On Artistic Eepresentations of Angling. 



THE imagination of the artist, as well as that of the 

 author, has been called into requisition to illustrate pis- 

 catory amusements. We have already given some account 

 of the early representations of fishing, found among the 

 ancient remains of the Egyptian and Assyrian empires. 

 We shall now make a few brief remarks on the pictorial 

 displays of modern art in reference to the same subject. 



There has been a caricature engraving found in the 

 ruins of Herculaneum, representing a little Cupid fishing 

 with the ringlets of her hair for lovers. This is justly 

 considered an interesting relic of ancient piscatory amuse- 

 ments. The lamprey appears in a picture found in the 

 ruins of this city, with great exactness. (Fig. 3, p. 402). 



There is a fine representation of Yenus angling for Cu- 

 pids in the ruins of Pompeii. The outline of the figure is 

 magnificent, and distinctly portrays the piscatory art. 



In the bas-reliefs of many of the sepulchral urns of the 

 first and second centuries of the Christian era found in 

 the catacombs of Home, we have very largely-drawn and 

 distinct representations of the religious martyrs thrown 

 into fish-ponds, and in the act of being devoured and mu- 



