Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 2i^5 



A {binc,theyfeeaswellbynighrasday. Moreover, they fay that it is good fifbing twife in one and 

 the fame hole: for commonly upon the fecond caft, tlic draught is better than thefirft. Fillies^ 

 love palling well to taftoyle: they joy alfo and like well in foft and gentle fhewers, and therewith 

 they will feed and become fat. And good reafon there is of it : for why? we fee by experience that 

 canes and recdes, although they breed in meeres and ftanding waters, yet they grow not to the 

 purpofe without raine. Moreover, itisobfervedj that fifh keeping evermore in one dead poole ^"*>*^ 

 and never rcmovcdiWill die whcrefoever it be, unlefie there fall raine water to refrefh them. All '^'^'^ * 

 fifhesfeele the cold ofalliarpe and hard Winter3butthoreerpeciallyjwhd are thought to ha\e 

 a ftone in their head^as the Pikes^the Chromes3Sciena;,& Pagri. If it be a bitrer leafon in win- • 

 ter^many of them are taken up blind. And therefore cluring thofe cold moneths^they lurke hid- *^ / -'^ : ^ 

 g den in holesjand within rockesjlike as we have faidjcertaine land creatures doe.But above all o- - " 

 thers the Lob ftars called Hippurijand the Coracini^cannot abide extremiticofcold, and there- i ' ' > - " - 

 fore be never caught in winter, unlelle it be at certain times when they come forth of their holes, 

 which they keepeduly,and never ftirre but then.hi like fort , the Lamproiejthe Orphe,ihcCon~ - 

 gcrjPerches and all ftone-fifhes that love rocks and gravell. Men fay verily, chat the crampe-firhj^ ^-jr^^ y ; - 

 the Plaice,and the Sole lie hidden all Wintertime in the ground, that is to fay^in certaine crevi- 

 fes and chinkes which they make in the bottome of the fea. Contrariwiiesfomc againe be as im-'^;^^ ^| ^ 

 patient of hear, and can as ill away with hole weather; and therefore about Midlummer for -^=^=--1^-. 

 daies the/lie hidden and are not to be feeneias the fea-filli Giaucits>the Cod,and the Gilthead. 

 Of river-fifhes, the Silurus or Sturgeon in the beginning of the dog daies is blafted and Itnken >V^-^ -^^ 



with a planet : at other times alio m a thunder and lightening he is fiBitten,fo as therewith he is r£^ .cA- * 

 aftonied andlieth for dead. And Ibme thinkc that the like accident befolleth to the fea Breariie '^J^t/, 

 Cyprinus*Andveriiy,all quarters of tlielca throughout, feele the rifmg of the dog-ftarre ; buc ^iZ^Z^ ^ 

 moft of allthe influence and power thereof is robe leenein the ftreight of Bofphorus. For tlieu 'S^'j^*^^-*^ 

 may a man perceive ordinarily the reites of the fea, and the fillies flote aloft, and tlie fea fo troii- ' 

 bledjthat every thing is caft up from the bottome to the upper part of the water, 'ww^^w^-* 



Chap. xvii. 



(5 ftht Mullet An^ other fijhes : and that the fime in all places are 

 riotoflikercqucp, 



THe Mullets have a natnrallridiculous'qilalitie by themfelves, to be laughed at: for when ^ 

 they be afraid to be caught,they will hide their head, and ihenthey ihinkethey bee furey- ^^r 

 nough,\^'eening that all their bodis is likewife hidden. ThefeMullets nevertheldfcare ib ^ 

 letcherousjthat in the leafon when they nfe to cngender,iH the coaifs of Phoenicc and Langue- 

 doCjifthey takeamilcer oiicof their f^ewesor pooles where they ufctokeepethemjanddraw a , 

 Jong firing or line through the mouth and gUils,and fo tie it fiit,and tlicn put him into the fea, 

 holding the other end of the line ftill in thefr hands,if they pull him againc unto thcmjthey fhal 

 have a number of fpawners or females follow him hard atcaileto the banke lide. Semblably, if a 

 man doe the fame with the female in fpawning time, hee fhail have as many milters follow after 

 ber.And in this manner they take an infiniie number of Mullets. ^ 



In old tinie our auncefiours fet moreltore by the Sturgeon,and it carried the name ^bovc ail 

 other fifhes. He is the only fifn that hath tlie skales growing to ward the head : hee fwims againft 

 the ffreame.But now adaies there isnofuch reckoning and account madeofhimiwhereatlmar- 

 vellmuch,confidering hcis/o hard and feldometo be found.Some call him Elops. Afterwards, 

 CorneLus Jiips^^nd Laberim the Poet and maker of merie rimes have written.that the fea Pikes 

 and the Cods gat away all the credit from the St urgeon ^and were of greatefl rcquefi. As for the 

 Pikes aforefaid,thebeff and moif commendable of all others bethey which are called Lanati,as - 

 a man would fay Cotton Pikes,for rhe whiienelfe and tenderneffeof their ficfh. Of Cods there 

 betwoforts,CallariiejOrHado'£lvS3whichbethelefre:andBacchi,whicharenevertaken but in J . - 

 thedeepc,and therefore they are preferred before the former. ButthePikcs that are caught in * 3^... 4^ 

 ^he river be better than all others. The filli called Scarus now carieth the price and praife of all ^^f /^^ ^ 

 others.and this filli alone is faid to chew cud/o live of grafle and wcedsjand notto prey upon o- ^ ^ 

 ther filliQs.In the Carpathian fea great ftorc of them is found : and by their good will they never 

 palfc the cape orptomontorieLeiStosin Ttoas^In ihe ^^k^oiTibermClnudm^Q EiDperour, 



y iij ^ Optaius 



