18 Fisuincg in AMERICAN WATERS. 
Galileo, when the earth was believed to be a great flat plain, 
the celestial expanse was divided by them into the northern 
and southern constellations, the most important of which 
were named after their favorite fishes, Out of the legends 
connecting these fishes with heathen divinities there have 
been evolved and handed down to us, revised and improved, 
the signs of the zodiac, indicated in almanacs by the figure 
of a man, which signs are still reverently consulted by both 
sailor and angler; and the latter is never confident or hope- 
ful of great success unless the sign be above the loins. 
Whether or no this be a superstition bequeathed by the an- 
cients I have not bestowed much time in examining, but 
plead guilty to the weakness of individual faith, and feel con- 
tident of good sport only when the sign is in the head, stom- 
ach, or bowels, but never when it is in the legs or feet. 
Man, from his inferior share of the earth’s surface, to which 
little space he appears confined without a fin to dive or a 
wing to soar, contemplates with pleasure the scintillating 
heavens; while the sublime rear of the ocean, its breakers 
beating the shores into fragments with its billowy battalions 
in close lines, and in storms booming like thunder, penetrate 
his soul with awe and reverence at the power manifested, to 
which, in comparison, his own is nothing. 
But it is not my intention to estimate the power of the 
waters, or their value for bathing or manufacturing purposes. 
My object is to show the reader the attractions of angling, 
and to convince him that wherever commensurate efforts 
have been made, the waters have yielded greater profits to 
his toil or skill than the land. Istrongly advocate the main- 
tenance of a large maritime power. As a means of wealth, 
the experience of the British Isles—isolated, and ecompara- 
tively insignificant on the map of the world as they are— 
proves that nothing is too exalted to be hoped for by a lib- 
eral maritime power. But it is the wealth of the waters in 
the riches of their inhabitants to which I would chiefly invite 
attention. As to the intelligence of fishes, comparatively lit- 
