5^ OF FISHES IN GENERAL'. 



ceffion both to the fund of his fubfiftence and enjoy=. 

 mcnts, by the capture of fo many animals whom Na- 

 ture feemcd to have placed beyond the reach of his pow- 

 er. A fleet of fifliing vefTels, manned by a few thoufand 

 European faijors, is capable of taking a greater number of 

 fifh in a feafon, thah perhaps covikl be done by all the fa- 

 T'Eges on the continent o'i ./Imerica. But thefuperflitious 

 regulations of the Romifli Church has tended more than 

 any other circumftance, to enhance the value, and in- 

 creafe the quantity of this fpccies of food. To fupply 

 the imaginary abflinence of the devout or fuperftitiou&, 

 large demands are annually made upon the fea ; and to 

 make up for the deficiencyof this precarious fupply, ponds 

 liave been dug, and fiHi, like land animals, rendered 

 domeftic. 



In ihe conflruiPaon of thefe ponds, it may be proper 

 to oblerve, that, if intended for breeding, they ought to 

 be of various depths, from fix feet to fix inches; for few 

 fifh will fpawn in water of any confiderable depth. Sucli 

 pieces of water ought alfo to be partly filled wdth aquatic 

 plants ; becaufe thefe afford ilieker and nouriiliment to dif- 

 ferent kinds of infefis, that contribute to feed the fifhes: For 

 a iimilar reafon, fifn ponds ouglit to be fuirounded with 

 trees, that the infects frequenting them may afford an 

 additional fupply for their fuflenancc. In arranging the 

 fillies in thefe receptacles, attention ought to be paid to 

 the different fpecies that arc introduced into the fam-e 

 pond. Carp ar.d tench agree well together ; but they 

 fjequently do not thrive when mixed with any other 

 fpecies. The percli is almoft the only fifh that can be 

 fafely entrufted in a fteet of water frequented by the 

 pike. 



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