310 Big Game Fishes 
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 
