144 PEOSE HALIEUTICS. 



' though smallerj are better flavoured than anywhere else 

 in Italy.' Those of the islands of Malta and Crete have 

 long been famous. Connoisseurs pronounce the small 

 mullet of the Propontis, Bosphorus, and Black Sea the 

 best flavoured; and Sonnini's experience goes to show 

 that M. barbatus of Alexandria need not fear a compa- 

 rison with the most highly prized from any other sile. 



The good or bad quality of this^ more than of most 

 fishj depends upon locality. Omnivorous^ like men, mul- 

 let differ from the generality of mankind in preferring 

 stinking things to fresh. According to Oppian, their 

 favourite bonne bouche is some wave-tossed carcase, sod- 

 den .with water, and distended with mephitic gases ; and 

 it is known that they seldom bite freely, unless angled 

 for with a fetid paste. Galen, aware of their nasty 

 propensities, wisely recommends a careful inspection 

 of the body before cooking, and shotdd the inside 

 not stand the scrutiny, that the favourite part, the trail, 

 should in that case be rejected, as unfit for the table. 

 Pliny also confirms what Galen has said of the advisa- 

 bleness of looking and smeUing before venturing to cook 

 or taste a mullet, and he gives the particular name of 

 lutarius (mud-fish) to those individuals the flavour and 

 wholesomeness of which have been tampered with by 

 their grubbing in ooze and fattening on filth.* 



Epicures eagerly sought for the largest specimens that 

 could be procured, and would pay any price for them. 

 Horace supposes this mere caprice, and asks, — 



Of carps and mullet wliy prefer the great, 

 Tliough cut in pieces ere my lord can eat, 

 Yet for small tnrbot sucli regard profess P 

 Because God made tliis large, the other less. 



Pope's Imitation. 



* Sonnini informs us that an excellent mode of transporting 

 this fish to a distance, is to remove the inside, and boU it care- 



