ANCIENT FISHINa-TACKLE. 19 



water than they glide gently beneath, and, before the hipp\iru8 is 

 aware, snap at and carry him as suddenly under the stream as an 

 eagle will seize and bear aloft a goose from a farm-yard, or a wolf 

 take a sheep from its fold. The predilection of these speckled 

 fish for their prey, though familiarly known to aU who inhabit the 

 district, does not induce the angler to attempt their capture by 

 impaling the living insect, which is of so deUoate a nature that 

 the least handling would spoil its colour and appearance, and ren- 

 der it unfit as a lure. But adepts in the sport have contrivedja tak- 

 ing device, ' oaptiosa quaedam machinatio,' to circumvent them; 

 for which purpose they invest the body of the hook with purple 

 wool, and having adjusted two wings of a waxy colour, so as to 

 form an exact imitation of the hippurus, they drop these abstruse 

 cheats gently down the stream. The scaly pursuers, who hastily 

 rise and expect nothing less than a dainty bait, snap the decoy, 

 and are immediately fixed to the hook. 



We should like to know something more of the sal- 

 monia (for some species of trout it certainly was thus 

 caught) of the hippuric iiy-fishers of Macedonia. 



When it is recoUected that they had neither fly-rods, 

 fly-UneSj reels, coUar, gafl'-hook, nor landing-net, the 

 capture of any fish of size must have required very de- 

 licate manipulation, and the difficulty of efiecting a safe 

 landing have greatly transcended our own, who have aU 

 these appliances at hand. 



Trawling at sea was another favourite mode of angling, 

 and is repeatedly referred to by Oppian, who strongly 

 recommends as bait a living labrax, if you can get one;* 

 if not, a dead fish sunk and raised alternately, with a 

 weight attached, — exactly as the modern trawler uses 

 a roach, or gudgeon, on the common gorge-hook. The 

 following is Oppian's description of a trawler preparing 

 his line: — 



He holds the labrax, and beneath his head 

 Adjusts with care an oblong shape of lead, 



* Zafi fih KepStarov ai/cXfce/uev. 



