24 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



every man who goes to sea. He who with us fishes for sustenance, 

 commonly finds it near the shores ; he who practices the art for the 

 purposes of commerce seeks, and waits for, a particular kind of prey. 

 Philosophy has not influence enough to encourage deep-sea fishing for 

 her own views. Is there no kind of food which might be furnished as 

 baits in the deepest waters? — nothing capable of attracting the sense of 

 taste, of sight, or of smelling ? In the small way of angling all this is 

 done ; might not the art be extended and improved ? — might not living 

 subjects be sunk with plummets below their natural regions, as bails for 

 those species which cannot or do not raise themselves to the upper ones ? 

 By wealth and encouragement much might be done ; for sailors, though 

 not learned in Icthyology, are frequently fond of fishing and novelty ; 

 they have a pride also, and triumph, in lesser circumstances than those 

 of war. 



A Portuguese Gentleman from Bahia, a fellow-passenger on board 

 an English ship, observed the sailors fishing, without success, when we 

 were surrounded by Bonitos. Without saying a word, he Avent to 

 a hen-coop, procured some feathers and a hook, made a rough sort of fly, 

 and soon caught more fishes than could be useful to the company ; 

 others tried the same means, but without equal success. The most 

 extraordinary instance of perseverance in this way, which I ever met 

 with, was afforded by an Indian boy, about thirteen or fourteen years of 

 age. Having begged a hook, he sat himself down, and from Junk 

 patiently spun a line well adapted to the size of the hook, and strong 

 beyond what could be expected from such materials. For a float he took 

 the thigh-bone of a fowl, which had been picked at dinner, worked off 

 the two ends, and formed a hollow tube, through which he passed the 

 line, and plugged up the ends ; thus the float was fastened at what he 

 deemed the proper distance from the bait. He then tied the other end 

 of the line round his left arm, so that he had both hands at liberty. In 

 fine weather he threw the float and bait as far from the gangway of the 

 vessel as he could, drawing it in again very quickly, hand over hand. 

 If he caught nothing by one cast, he threw another, and continued doing 



