ANCIENT FISHINa-TACKLB. 31 



from tlie rest, wlio brouglit his fellowes to tliis feast, and to take 

 heed in any hand that he be not twitcht up and caught; and 

 therefore the fisher spareth him, that he may flie and goe to 

 some other flooke for to traine them to the like banket. Thus 

 you see the manner of fishing for these anthise. 



Though not strictly to the point, we cannot forhear 

 the sequel: — 



It is reported that one fisher upon a time (of spightftd mind 

 to do his fellow a shrewd tume) laid wait for the said capitaine 

 fish, the leader of the rest (for he was very well knowne from all 

 others), and so caught him; but when the foresaid fisher espied 

 hiTti in the market to be sold and knew it was he, taking himselfe 

 misused and wronged, brought hia action of the case against the 

 other, and sued him for the danunage, and in the end condemned 

 him. Mutianus saith, moreover, that the plaintife was awarded 

 to have for recompense 10?. of the defendant. 



Some fish, and notably skate, have, according to 

 ^lian and Aristotle, musical ears, and eyes that love the 

 dance, — a fatal taste, which leads to their capture in the 

 foUowiag manner. Two men embark in a boat, one 

 with a fiddle, the other with a net in his hand. As 

 soon as the violinist begins to scrape and caper to his 

 instrvunent, the skate, attracted both by the dancing 

 and melody to the spot, speedily become, like Horace^s 

 dreamer, so absorbed and entranced by the sweet sounds, 

 as to be unconscious of the treacherous meshes mean- 

 while diligently drawn round them by the other fisher- 

 man. Thus a great take is sometimes efiected, the 

 skate making no efibrt to escape. We should not have 

 cited this statement of ^lian had it been tmsupported 

 by other evidence, but it is singularly countenanced and 

 confirmed by no less a person than the great French 

 ichthyologist, Rondolet. 



A somewhat similar mode of catching fish is had re- 

 course to by the boatmen of the Danube, who arch across 

 and keep tense upon strong stretchers hung with grelots, 

 a floating net, and so ring iu a great number of fish to 



