468 PEOSB HAIIEUTICS. 



equipment, as though the fate of an empire depended 

 upon its success. When the boats have stolen quietly 

 to the spot where sturgeon are known to lie, the canvas 

 is drawn in, and the nets let down noiselessly over the 

 ship's side. The simple creatures below see the meshy 

 wall, which is presently to hem them round, slowly de- 

 scending, but do not stir a fin : touched at length, they 

 start a little, but soon getting reconciled to the gentle 

 pressure of the net, laaUy swim towards the landing- 

 place. Some skill, however, is then necessary (the nets 

 being wholly unequal to land such a load) to persuade 

 the fish to betake themselves to shore. A plummet is 

 let down for this purpose over the heads of the largest, 

 which so soon as it touches the snout (a highly sensitive 

 part) causes them to flounder and kick like high-mettled 

 racers resenting the whip, and also to approach the shore, 

 when, seeking to escape further indignities, they plimge 

 and rear, and finally run themselves aground. Thus 

 stranded, and only half immersed in water, the men draw 

 near with caution, and gently handling the abdomen 

 (another very sensitive part of the body), contrive to 

 make the fish turn in the required direction, and, in spite 

 of their unwieldy bulk, to assist materially in their own 

 capture. The next important work is to secure the tail, 

 and to prevent the mischief sure to ensue should this 

 organ be left to ' wag,' according to the instinct of its 

 owner. 



The sturgeon frequents estuaries, and lives by sucking 

 in the small fry that passes up the stream ; he sometimes 

 accompanies a troop of salmon, whence his name of 

 salmon-pilot ; but the title is undeserved, the reason he 

 joins their company being to feed on the spawn so soon 

 as it is deposited. In an oozy embouchure he pokes his 

 cartilaginous snout into the mud, and finds worms 

 enough to satisfy an appetite which is small considering 

 the size of the fish. Sometimes a sturgeon will take 



