Plinies Natural! Hiftorici 



A the deepc gulfes, where Icaft wind or none is ftirringi The rough kind, are In Hellefponc and 

 the fine and maflicjabout the cape MaleaJn fun-fhine places they will corrupt and putrifiejand 

 therefore the beft are in the deepc gulfes and creeks,not expofed to the (un.They be of the fame 

 duskc and blackifh colour when they live,as they are afterwards being foked and full of moift ure* 

 They cleave to rockcs neither by any one partjnor yet entire and whole all over .-for there are be* 

 tweene^certainc void pipes foure or five commonly, by which they are fiippofed to receive their 

 food and nourifhment. There be more of thefe pipes and concavities^but above they ate grown 

 togither hard and not hollow. A certaine pellicle or thin skin a man may perceive them to have 

 at their roots* For certein it is knowne5ihat they live long. The worft kind of them all, be thofe 

 that are called Aplyfiacjbccaufeunneth they may be feparatedjnorcleanled and made cleanCj 



B they are fo foule : for great pipes they have : thickc they are befides throughoutjand very malTiei 



Ghap. xtvi. 

 Of Hound fjhes^orScA-dogsi 



THe dy vers diat ufe to plunge downe into the rea,are annoyed very much with a number of 

 Sea-hounds that come about them, and put them in great jeopardie. And they fay ^that 

 thefe fiflies have a certain dim cloud or thin web, growing and hanging over their heads, 

 refembling broad^flatjand griftly fi(hes,whichclingcth them hard, and hmdreth them from re- 

 tiring backe and giving way. For which caufethe faid dyvers(asthemfelvesfav) carrie downe 

 C with them certaine fharpe prickes or goads faftened to long poles : for unlefle they be proked 

 at and pricked with them, they will not turne their backe; by reafon (aslfuppofe) of amift be- 

 fore their eyes, or rather of fomefeare andamazednesthatcheybein.Forlneverheardof any 

 man that found the like cloud or mitt (for this tearme they give unto that unhappie thing what- 

 ever it be) in the raunge of living creatures. But yet much adoe they have and hard hold with 

 thefe Hound- fifhes notwithftanding : for they lay at their bellies and groines,at their heeles,and 

 fnap ateveriepart of their bodies that they can perceive to be white. The oncly way and reme- 

 die is to make head diredly affront them, and to begin with themfirfl, andfo to terrific them s 

 for they are notfo terrible to a man, but they are as traid of him againc. Thus within the deepc 

 they are indifferently even matched : but when the dyvers mount up and rife againc above water^ 

 D then there is fome ods betwcene, and the man hath the difadvantagCjand is in moredaungcr 5 

 by reafon that whiles he laboureth to get our of the water,he faileth of means to encounter with 

 the beafl, againft the ftreame and fourges of the water. And therefore his onely recourie is, to 

 have helpe and aid from his fellowes in the (liip; for having a cord tied at one end about his 

 fliouldcrsjhefhakcchitwith his left hand, to give figne in what daungerhee is, whiles he main- 

 taineth fight with the rightjby taking into it the puncheon with the fnarp point beforcfaid j and 

 foac the other end they draw him to them: and they need othervvife to pull and hale him but 

 fbfcly : mary when he is neere once to the Aiip, unleffe they give him a fodaine jerke and fiiatch 

 him up quickly, they may befure to fee him worried and devoured before their face: yea and 

 when they are at the point to be plucked up, and even now readie to goe abourd, they are many 

 % times eaught away out of their fellowes hands,if they beftirre not thcmfelvcs the berter,and puE 

 their owne good will to the helpe of them within the rtiip jnamely, by plucking up their legges 

 and gathering their bodies nimbly togither round as it were in a ball.Well may fbme from fhip- 

 bourd proke at the dogges aforefaid with forkes ; others thruft at them with Trout fpeares and 

 fuch like weapons, and all never the neare .-fo craftie and cautelous is this foule beaff, to get un- 

 dcrthe very bellie ofthe barke,and To maintainc combat infafetie. And therfore all the care that 

 thefe fiihers have, is to provide for this milchiefe, and to lie in wait for to entrap thefe fell,un- 

 happiCjand fhrewd monficrs. 



Chap. xlVii^ 



^ of thofe fifjjes that lie mhin a flcme and hard flint ie Jhell: alfi of thofe that 

 ha<ve i}dfenje landof othtr naflit andflthie crCAtiiresi 



'TT'He greatefl fecuritie that fifhers and dyvers have of fafctic, is when they fee the broad flat 

 ■\ -J[ ^^^1 fifhes: for certaine it is, that they be never in any place, where hurtful! and noifomc 

 CI beaftt 



