BOOK VIII. XVII. 7-10 



place will bear." For we cannot, if we should wish 

 to do so, feed in a fish-pond a multitude of red mullet, 

 such as we have very often seen in the sea, since it 

 is a very delicate kind of fish and most intolerant of 

 captivity, and so only one or two out of many 8 

 thousands can on rare occasions endure confinement, 

 while, on the contrary, we frequently notice in closed 

 watei-s shoals of those deep-sea fish : the sluggish 

 grey mullet and the greedy basse. Therefore, as I 

 have already suggested, let us consider the quality 

 of our sea-shore and, if we find it rocky, let us be 

 content with it. We shall imprison in our ponds 

 several kinds of wrasse and sea-merles and greedy 

 sea-weasels and also basse which have no spots 

 (for there is also a mottled kind), also floating 

 lampreys, which are much esteemed, and any other 

 lampreys of the rock-dwelling kind which command 

 a high price ; for it does not pay to catch, much less 

 to keep, anything which is cheap. These same kinds 9 

 of fish can also be kept in ponds on a sandy shore ; 

 for shores which are covered with slime and mud are, 

 as I have already said, better suited to shell-fish and 

 animals which lie at the bottom. A different position 

 too is required for ponds which harbour those fish 

 which lie down, nor is the same food provided for 

 prostrate as for upright fish. For soles and turbots 

 and similar creatures a shallow pond is sunk two feet 

 in that part of the shore which is never left high and 

 dry by ebbing of deep water. Next close barriers 10 

 are fixed along the edges of the pond, so that they 

 always stand out of the water even when the tide of 

 the sea is at its highest; then dams are thrown up 

 all round so as to encompass the pond in their embrace 

 and at the same time to rise above its level. For in 



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