Plinies HaturailHiftorie* i^y 



A muchcalledfor^ whctcasinothcrplacesitiscountedbutabafe, muddi^^ t ' <^ 



which no where els they know how to feerh pcrfitely, unJefle it be firft well beaten with cudgels^ 



In the countreyofAquitaine or Guiennc in FrauncCjthe river Salmon pafleth all other fea Sal- t 

 mons whatfoever. 



Of fil"h/ome have many folds of guils : fome fingkjOthers doubIe.At thele guils they dclivet 

 againe and put forth the water that they take in at the mouth. You mayknowwhenfifh beeold 

 by their hard skales: and yet all fifhes arc not skaled alike.Thcre be two lakesin Italie at the foot 

 of the Alpesj named Larius and Vcrbanus^ wherein fifhes are to be feene every yeere at xht iir 

 fingof theftarreVergilise^thickeof skales^and the fame iharpepointed^ like to the tongues of 

 bu ckles jwhercwith horfemen or men of arines doe fatten theif greives :and never els but about 

 Br that month doe they appeare. 



Chap. xix. 

 ^ Of thef[h Exocceim, 



T He Arcadians make wonderous great account of their Exocoetus;focailed/or that he go- , 

 eth abroad and taketb up his lodging on the drie land for to fleepe^ This fifh (by report) a- 

 bout the coaft Clitorius^hath a kind of voicejand yet is without guils. And of fome hee is 

 named Adonis, Butbefides him^thefeaXortoifcsalfo, (called Mures Marini) the Polypes and ^--^-^ 

 L ampreis ufe to goe forth to land. Moreover^in the rivers of India ther^ is one certain fifli doth 

 Q fojbut it leapeth backc againe into the water.For whereas many other filhes doe pafle out of the 

 lea into rivers and lakes, there is great and evident reafon thereof, namely^for that they are in 

 more fafetie there^both to caft their fpawne under the wind where the water is not fo roughjand 

 - full of waves : and alfo to bring forth their little onesjbecaule there be no great fifhes to devour 

 them. That thefe diimbe creatures fhould have the fence hereof^^thus to know thefe caufes, and 

 obferve duly their timesjisveryftrange and wondcrfuUjif a man would found the depth ihere^ 

 of : b ut more hce would marvell to confidcr how few men there bee that know which is the bell I 

 feafon for fiiTiing^namely^whiles the funne pafleth through the figne Pifccs* 



Chap. xXi 



D divifwn of fijhes^ according to the form andflrape of their bodies i, ^jtjoJr 



, F fea-fiOxs fome be plaine and flat^as Byrts orTurbots^SoldsjPlaicejand Flounders. And 

 r rheie differ from the Turbots only in the making of their bodie. For in a Turbot the right p. i 

 fideturnethupwardjandinaPiaicetheleft.Ochersagain-belongandroundastheLam- ^ '\j 

 prey and tlie Congre. And hereupon it is^that they have a difference in their finsj which Nature 

 hath given to fil"h in fteed of feet. None have above fourc/ome have twaine/ome three^ others 

 none at all. Onely in the lake Fucinus there is a fiflijwhich m fwimming ufeth eight finnes. All I 

 that be long and flipperie as Yeeles and Congres.have ordinarily two in alljand no more. Lam- 

 preies have none to fwim with^ ne yet perfect guils : all of this kind wind and v^riggle with their 

 bodies within the watetjand fo erch forward^like as Serpents doe upon theearch. They creep al- 

 fo when they are upon drie land : and therefore fuch live longer than the reil out of the water. A^ 

 fo of the forcfaid flat fil"hesfomc have no finnes^as the puffen orforke-fiCh -.for their breadth fer- ' \j 

 3l?eth them fufFiciently tobearethemupjand tofwim. And among thofe that are counted foft^ 

 jhe Pourcuttcll hath no fins, for his feet ftandcth him in ftced of fins to fwini withal!,; 



Chap, xxl 

 "^Ofreeles. 



V/Eeles live eight yecres . A.ndif the North wind bloWj they abide alive without water fixe 

 ^ daies, but not fo long in a Southcrnc wind. But yet in Winter time they may not endure to 

 be in a little water^nor if it be thickc and muddie : wheteuponjabout the rifing of the ftarre Vir- 

 gilise they bee cpmmonly taken^ forthat the rivers about thattime ufe to bee troubled* Their 

 feeding moft commonly is in the night , Of all fifh^ they alone (if they be dead) fiote not above 

 thcwater, ^ 



Chap. 



