IN FEATHERS AXD FUR. 245 
A COMICAL FISHERMAN. 
Did you ever hear of a man going fishing, and using his own 
flesh for bait? 
You don't believe there are such men? — well, you will when 
I tell you that it is in Asia Minor, and he fishes for Leeches. 
Horrid things ! Well, I know they are not very pretty, but 
they are sometimes very useful. 
The way this curious fisherman goes to work, is this : The 
Leeches live in the marshes, and the man w T ades in the water with 
legs bare, splashing around to attract their attention. The unpleas- 
ant looking creatures are very fond of blood, (that's why they're 
so useful,) and they immediately rush out and fasten on to him. 
As soon as he feels one, he picks it off and puts it in a little dish 
of water which he carries. 
If it happens to be Summer when he goes out for Leeches, he 
has even a worse time, for they prefer deep water then, and he just 
has to go in swimming and let them fasten all over him, when he 
comes out a droll looking object indeed. 
When he has collected a good many hundred of them, he sells 
them to a dealer who goes around now and then. But they are 
not yet ready for market; they have to be fattened. I don't know 
why, but they are thought to be better when fat. So the trader 
takes them to the fattening factory. (Funny business that must be !) 
At this establishment the Leeches are sorted — for there are 
several kinds — and after a good meal of ox blood, are thrown into 
ponds, each kind by itself. In fifteen or twenty days, they are 
fished up again ; not by men this time, but by a cloth nailed to a 
board. When slapped around in the water, they seize it, and are 
pulled out. 
The funniest thing about them, is their sleeping car arrange- 
ment, by which these fat fellows travel thousands of miles without 
hurt. You see they must be kept wet, and it would be difficult to 
carry jars of water so far, so the men who prepare them for market, 
mix up a pudding of fine clay and water, and when thoroughly 
mixed, the Leeches are stirred into the mud. There they stay, safe 
and comfortable, till they reach the end of their journey. 
