says there that these monsters appear in that sea only when the tempestous winds oppose the torrents of waters falling from the rocka into it, and so turning what lay at the bottom to be seen on the water's top; and he says that the people of Cadara, an island near this place, make the timber for their houses of those fish bones. He there tells us that there are sometimes a thousand of these great eels found wrapped or interwoven together. He tells us there that it appears that Dolphins love inusic, and will come, when called for by some men or boys that know and use to feed them, and that they can swim as swift as an arrow can be shot out of a bow, and much of this is spoken of concerning the Dolphin and other fish, as may be found also in learned Dr. Casaubon's discourse of Credulity and Incredulity, printed by him about the year 1670. I know we islanders are averse to the belief of these wonders, but there be so many strange creatures to be now seen, many collected by John Tradescant, and others added by my friend Elias Ashmole, Esq., who now keeps them carefully and methodically at his house near to Lambeth, near London, as may ge some belief of some of the other wonders I mentioned. I will tell you some of the wonders that you may now see, and not till then believe unless you think fit.

You may there see the Hog-fish, the Dogfish, the Dolphin, the Coney-fish, the Parrotfish, the Shark, the Poison-fish, Sword-fish, and not only other incredible fish, but you may there see the Salamander, several sorts of Barnacles, of Solon Geese, the Bird of Paradise, such sorts of snakes, and such birds'-nests, and of so various forms and so wonderfully made as may beget wonder and amusement in any beholder, and so many hundred of other rarities in that collection as will make the other wonders I spake of the less incredible, for you may note that the waters are Nature's store-house, in which she locks up her wonders.

But, Sir, lest this discourse may seem tedious, I shall give it a sweet conclusion out of that holy poet Mr. George Herbert, his divine contemplation on God's Providence.

Lord, who hath praise enough, nay, who hath any? None can express thy works but he that knows them;

And none can know thy works, they are so many,
And so complete, but only he that owes them.

We all acknowledge both thy power and love
To be exact, transcendant, and divine;
Who dost so strangely and so sweetly move,
Whilst all things have their end, yet none but thine.

Wherefore, most sacred Spirit, I here present,
For me and all my fellows, praise to thee;
nd just it is that I should pay the rent.
Because the benefit accrues to me.

And, as concerning fish in that Psalm, Psa. 104, wherein, for height of poetry and wonders, the prophet David seems even to exceed himself, how doth he there express himself in choice metaphors, even to the amazement of

a contemplative reader, concerning the sea, the rivers, and the fish therein contained; and the great naturalist, Pliny, says "that Nature's great and wonderful power is more demonstrated by sea than on the land." And this may appear by the numerous and various creatures inhabiting both in and about that element : as to the readers of Gesner, Rondeletius, Pliny, Ausonius, Aristotle, and others, may be demonstrated. But I will sweeten this discourse also out of a contemplation in divine Du Bartas, who says:

God quickened in the sea and in the rivers,
So many fishes of so many features,
That in the waters we may see all creatures,
E'en all that on the earth are to be found,
As if the world were in deep waters drown'd:
For seas as well as sikes, have sun, moon, stars,
As well as air-swallows, rooks, and stares;
As well as earth-vines, roses, nettles, melons,
Mushrooms, pinks, gilliflowers, and many millions
Of other plants, more rare, more strange than these,
As very fishes living in the seas;

As also rams, calves, horses, hares ar hogs,
Wolves, urchins, lions, elephants and dogs;
Yea, men and maids, and which I most admire,
The mitred bishop, and the cowled friar.
Of which examples, but a few years since,
Were shown the Norway and Palonian prince.

These seem to be wonders, but have had so many confirmations from men of learning and credit, that you need not doubt them; nor are the number, nor the various shapes of fishes, more strange or more fit for contemplation than their different natures, inclinations, and actions; concerning which I shall beg your patient ear a little longer.

The Cuttle-fish will cast a long gut out of her throat, which, like as an angler doth his line, she sendeth forth and pulleth in again at her pleasure, according as she sees some little fish come near to her; and the Cuttle-fish, being then hid in the gravel, lets the smaller fish nibble and bite the end of it, at which time she by little and little draws the smaller fish so near to her that she may leap upon her, and then catches and devours her; and for this reason some have called this fish the sea-angler.

And there is a fish called a Hermit, that at a certain age gets into a dead fish's shell, and like a hermit dwells there alone, studying the wind and weather, and so turns her shell that she makes it defend her from the injuries that they would bring upon her.

There is also a fish called by Aelian, in his 9th book of Living Creatures, ch. 16, the Adonis, or darling of the sea; so called because it is a loving and innocent fish, a fish that hurts nothing that hath life, and is at peace with all the numerous inhabitants of that vast watery element; and truly I think most anglers are so disposed to most of mankind.

And there are also lustful and chaste fishes, of which I shall give you examples.

And first, what Du Bartas says of a fish called the Sargus; which, because none can express it better than he does, I shall give

you in his own words; supposing it shall not have the less credit for being verse, for he hath gathered this and other observations out of authors that have been great and industrious searchers into the secrets of nature.

The adult'rous Sargus doth not only change
Wives every day in the deep streams, but strange
As if the honey of sea-love delight
Could not suffice his ranging appetite,
Goes courting she-goats on the grassy shore,
Horning their husbands, that had horns before.

And the same author writes concerning the Cantharus, that which you shall also hear in his own words :

But contrary, the constant Cantharus
Is ever constant to his faithful spouse;
In nuptial duties spending his chaste life,
Never loves any but his own dear wife.

Sir, but a little longer, and I have done.

Ven. Sir, take what liberty you think fit, for your discourse seems to be music, and charms me to an attention.

Pisc. Why then, Sir, I will take a little liberty to tell, or rather to remember you what is said of turtle-doves-first, that they silently plight their troth and marry; and that then the surviver scorns, as the Thracian women are said to do, to outlive his or her mate, and this is taken for truth; and if the survivor shall ever couple with another,then not only the living, but the dead, be it either the he or the she, is denied the name and honour of a true turtle-dove.

And to parallel this land rarity, and teach mankind moral faithfulness, and to condemn those that talk of religion, and yet come short of the moral faith of fish and fowl; men that vitiate the law affirmed by St. Paul, Rom. ii. 14, 15, to be writ in their hearts, and which he says shall at the last day condemn and leave them without excuse. I pray hearken to what Du Bartas sings, for the hearing of such conjugal faithfulness will be music to all chaste ears, and therefore I pray hearken to what Du Bartas sings of the mullet :

But for chaste love the mullet hath no peer,
For, if the fisher hath surprised her phear,
As mad with woe, to shore she followeth,
Prest to consort him both in life and death.

On the contrary, what shall I say of the house-cock, which treads any hen, and then, contrary to the swan, the partridge, and pigeon, takes no care to hatch, to feed, or to cherish his own brood, but is senseless though they perish.

And 'tis considerable, that the hen, which, because she also takes any cock, expects it not, who is sure the chickens be her own, hath by a moral impression her care and affection to her own brood more than doubled, even to such a height that our Saviour, in expressing his love to Jerusalem, Matt. xxiii. 37, quotes her for an example of tender affection, as his Father had done Job for a pattern of patience. And to parallel this cock there

be divers fishes that cast their spawn on flags or stones, and then leave it uncovered, and exposed to become a prey, and be devoured by vermin or other fishes; but other fishes, as namely, the barbel, takes such care for the preservation of their seed, that, unlike to the cock or the cuckoo, they mutually labour, both the spawner and the melter, to cover their spawn with sand, or watch it, or hide it in some secret place, unfrequented by vermin, or by any fish but themselves.

Sir, these examples may, to you and others, seem strange; but they are testified, some by Aristotle, some by Pliny, some by Gesner, and by many others of credit, and are believed and known by divers, both of wisdom and experience, to be a truth and indeed are, as I said at the beginning, fit for the contemplation of a most serious, and a most pious man, and, doubtless, this made the prophet David say

They that occupy themselves in deep waters see the wonderful works of God:" indeed, such wonders and pleasures too as the land affords not.

And that they be fit for the contemplation of the most prudent, and pious, and peaceable men, seems to be testified by the practice of so many devout and contemplative men, as the Patriarchs and Prophets of old, and of the Apostles of our Saviour in our latter times; of which twelve, we are sure he chose four that were simple fishermen, whom he inspired, and sent to publish his blessed will to the Gentiles, and inspired them also with a power to speak all languages, and by their powerful eloquence to beget faith in the unbelieving Jews, and themselves to suffer for that Saviour whom their forefathers and they had crucified; and, in their sufferings, to preach freedom from the incumbrances of the law, and a new way to everlasting life. This was the employment of these happy fishermen, concerning which choice, some have made these observations.

First, That he never reproved these for their employment or calling, as he did Scribes and the money-changers. And, secondly, he found that the hearts of such men by nature were fitted for contemplation and quietness; men of mild, and sweet, and peaceable spirits, as indeed most anglers are: these men our blessed Saviour, who is observed to love to plant grace in good natures, though indeed nothing be too hard for him, yet these men he chose to call from their irreprovable employment of fishing, and gave them grace to be his disciples, and to follow him and do wonders; I say four of twelve.

And it is observable that it was our Saviour's will that these our four fishermen should have a priority of nomination in the catalogue of his twelve apostles, Mat. x. as namely, first-St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. James, and St. John, and then the rest in their order.

And it is yet more observable, that when our blessed Saviour went up into the mount,

when he left the rest of his disciples and chose only three to bear him company at his transfiguration, that those three were all fishermen. And it is to be believed, that all the other apostles, after they betook themselves to follow Christ, betook themselves to be fishermen too; for it is certain that the greater number of them were found together fishing by Jesus after his Resurrection, as it is recorded in the 21st chapter of St. John's Gospel.

And since I have your promise to hear me with patience, I will take a liberty to look back upon an observation that hath been made by an ingenious and learned man, who observes, that God hath been pleased to allow those, whom he himself hath appointed to write his holy will in Holy Writ, yet, to express his will in such metaphors as their former affections or practice had inclined them to and he brings Solomon for an example, who before his conversion was remarkably carnally amorous: and after by God's appointment wrote that spiritual dialogue or holy amorous love-song the Canticles, betwixt God and his church; in which he says his beloved had eyes like the fish-pools of Heshbon.

And if this hold in reason, as I see none to the contrary, then it may be probably concluded, that Moses, who, I told you before, wrote the book of Job, and the prophet Amos, who was a shepherd, were both Anglers; for you shall in all the Old Testament find fishhooks, I think but twice mentioned, namely, by meek Moses the friend of God, and by the humble prophet Amos.

Concerning which last, namely, the prophet Amos, I shall make but this observation, that he that shall read the humble, lowly, plain style of that prophet, and compare it with the high, glorious, cloquent style of the prophet Isaiah, though they be both equally true, may easily believe Amos to be, not only a Shepherd, but a good-natured, plain Fisherman.

Which I do the rather believe by comparing the affectionate, loving, lowly, humble epistles of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John, whom we know were all fishers, with the glorious language and high metaphors of St. Paul, who we may believe was not.

And for the lawfulness of fishing it may very well be maintained by our Saviour's bidding St. Peter cast his hook into the water and catch a fish, for money to pay tribute to Cæsar. And let me tell you, that Angling is of high esteem, and of much use in other nations. He that reads the Voyages of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, shall find that there he declares to have found a king and several priests a fishing.

And he that reads Plutarch shall find that Angling was not contemptible in the days of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and that they in the midst of their wonderful glory used Angling as a principal recreation. And let me tell you that in the scripture Angling is always taken in the best sense, and that though hunting may be sometimes so taken,

yet it is but seldom to be so understood. And let me add this more, he that views the ancient Ecclesiastical canons shall find hunting to be forbidden to churchmen, as being a turbulent, toilsome, perplexing recreation; and shall find Angling allowed to clergymen, as being a harmless recreation: a recreation that invites them to contemplation and quiet

ness.

I might here enlarge myself by telling you what commendations our learned Perkins bestows on Angling; and how dear a lover, and great a practiser of it our learned Doctor Whitaker was, as indeed many others of great learning have been. But I will content myself with two memorable men, that lived near to our own time, whom I also take to have been ornaments to the art of Angling.

The first is Doctor Nowell, some time Dean of the Cathedral of St. Paul's, in London, where his monument stands yet undefaced: a man that in the reformation of Queen Elizabeth, not that of Henry VIII. was so noted for his meek spirit, deep learning, prudence and piety, that the then parliament and convocation both, chose, enjoined, and trusted him to be the man to make a catechism for public use, such a one as should stand as a rule for faith and manners to their posterity. And the good old man, though he was very learned, yet knowing that God leads us not to heaven by many nor by hard questions, like an honest Angler, made that good, plain, unperplexed catechism which is printed with our good old Service-Book. I say this good man was a dear lover and constant practiser of Angling, as any age can produce; and his custom was to spend, besides his fixed hours of prayer, those hours which by command of the Church were enjoyed by the clergy, and voluntarily dedicated to devotion by many primitive christians: I say, besides those hours, this good man was observed to spend part of his time in Angling; and also, for I have conversed with those which have conversed with him, to bestow a tenth part of his revenue, and usually all his fish, amongst the poor that inhabited near to those rivers in which it was caught: saying often, "that Charity gives life to religion," and at his return to his house would praise God he had spent that day free from earthly trouble; both harmlessly, and in a recreation that became a churchman. this good man was well content, if not desirous, that posterity should know he was an Angler, as may appear by his picture now to be seen, and carefully kept in Brazen-nose College, to which he was a liberal benefactor, in which picture he is drawn leaning on a desk, with his Bible before him, and on one hand of him his lines, hooks, and other tackling lying in a round; and on his other hand are the angle-rods of several sorts; and by them this is written, "That he died 13 Feb. 1601, being aged 95 years, 44 of which he had been Dean of St. Paul's church; and that his age had neither impaired his hearing, nor dimmed his eyes, nor weakened his memory,

And

nor made any of the faculties of the mind weak or useless." 'Tis said, that Angling and Temperance were great causes of these blessings, and I wish the like to all that imitate him, and love the memory of so good

a man.

My next and last example shall be that under-valuer of money, the late provost of Eton College, Sir Henry Wotton, a man with whom I have often fished and conversed, a man whose foreign employments in the service of this nation, and whose experience, learning, wit, and cheerfulness, made his company to be esteemed one of the delights of mankind; this man, whose very approbation of Angling were sufficient to convince any modest censurer of it, this man was also a most dear lover, and a frequent practiser of the art of Angling; of which he would 66 say, 'Twas an employment for his idle time, which was then not idly spent;" for Angling was, after tedious study, a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, a procurer of contentedness ;" and "that ́it begat habits of peace and patience in those that professed and practised it." Indeed, my friend, you will find Angling to be like the virtue of humility, which has a calmness of spirit, and a world of other blessings attending upon it.

66

Sir, this was the saying of that learned man, and I do easily believe that peace, and patience, and a calm content, did cohabit in the cheerful heart of Sir Henry Wotton, because I know that when he was beyond seventy years of age he made this description of a part of the present pleasure that possessed him, as he sat quietly in a Summer's evening on a bank a fishing; it is a description of the Spring, which, because it glided as soft and sweetly from his pen as that river does at this time, by which is was then made, I shall repeat it unto you.

This day dame Nature seem'd in love:
The lusty sap began to move :
Fresh juice did stir th' embracing vines,
And birds had drawn their valentines;
The jealous Trout that low did lie,
Rose at a well-dissembled fly;

There stood my friend with patient skill,
Attending of his trembling quill,
Already were the eaves possest
With the swift Pilgrim's daubed nest;
The groves already did rejoice,
In Philomel's triumphing voice :

The showers were short, the weather mild,
The morning fresh, the evening smil'd.

Joan takes her neat rubb'd pail, and now
She trips to milk the sand-red cow;
Where, for some sturdy foot-ball swain,
Joan strokes a syllabub or twain,
The fields and gardens were boset
With Tulips, Crocus, Violet:

And now, though late, the modest Rose
Did more than half a blush disclose.
Thus all looks gay, and full of cheer,
To welcome the new livery'd year.

These were the thoughts that then possessed the undisturbed mind of Sir Henry Wotton.

Will you hear the wish of another Angler, and the commendation of his happy life, which he also sings in verse? viz. Jo. Davors, Esq.

Let me live harmlessly, and near the brink
Of Trent or Avon have a dwelling place:
Where I may see my quill or cork down sink
With eager bite of Perch, or Bleak, or Dace.
And on the World and my Creator think;
Whil'st some men strive ill gotten goods t' embrace,
Aud others spend their time in base excess
Of wine or worse, in war or wantonness.
Let them that list these pastimes still pursue,
And on such pleasing fancies feed their fill,
So I the fields and meadows green may view,
And daily by fresh rivers walk at will
Among the daisies and the violets blue,
Red hyacinth, and yellow daffodil,

Purple Narcissus like the morning rays
Pale gander-grass, and azure culverkeys.
I count it higher pleasure to behold
The stately compass of the lofty sky,
And in the midst thereof like burning gold,
The flaming chariot of the World's great eye;
The watery clouds that in the air up roll'd,
With sundry kinds of painted colours fly,
And fair Aurora lifting up her head,
Still blushing, rise from old Tithonus' bed.
The hills and mountains raised from the plains,
The plains extended level with the ground,
The grounds divided into sundry veins,
The veins enclosed with rivers running round:
These rivers making way through Nature's chains
With headlong course into the sea profound:
The raging sea, beneath the valley low,
Where lakes, and rills, aud rivulets do flow.
The lofty woods, the forests wide and long,
Adorn'd with leaves and branches fresh and green,
In whose cool bowers the birds with many a song
Do welcome with their quire the Summer's Queen;
The meadows fair where Flora's gifts among
Are intermixed, with verdant grass between.
The silver scaled fish that softly swim
Within the sweet brook's chrystal watery stream
All these and many more of his creation
Taking therein no little delectation,
That made the heavens, the Angler oft doth see;

To think how strange, how wonderful they be ;
Framing thereof an inward contemplation,
To set his heart from other fancies free ?
And whilst he looks on these with joyful eye,
His mind is rapt above the starry sky.

Sir, I am glad my memory has not lost these last verses, because they are somewhat more pleasant and more suitable to May-day than my harsh discourse, and I am glad your patience hath held out so long as to hear them and me; for both of them have brought us within the sight of the Thatched-house; and I must be your debtor, if you think it worth your attention, for the rest of my promised discourse, till some other opportunity, and a like time of leisure.

VEN. Sir, you have angled me on with much pleasure to the Thatched-house, and I now find your words true, "That good company makes the way seem short;" for, trust me, Sir, I thought we had wanted three miles of this house till you showed it to me; but now we are at it, we'll turn into it, and refresh ourselves with a cup of drink, and a little

rest.

Pisc. Most gladly, Sir, and we'll drink a civil cup to all the other hunters that are to meet to-morrow.

VEN. That we will, Sir, and to all the lovers of Angling too, of which number I am now willing to be one myself; for, by the help of your good discourse and company, I have put on new thoughts both of the art of Angling and all that profess it; and if you will but meet me to-morrow, at the time and place appointed, and bestow one day with me and my friends in hunting the otter, I will dedicate the next two days to wait upon you, and we two will for that time do nothing but Angle, and talk of fish and fishing.

Pisc. 'Tis a match, Sir, I'll not fail you, God willing, to be at Amwell-hill to morrow morning before sun-rising.

The first articles that the young Angler stands in need of before he commences his fishing pursuits, are a rod and line; we, therefore, insert the following directions for making of a line, and for the colouring of both rod and line:-"I will lose no time," says Izaak Walton, "but give you a little direction how to make and order your lines, and to colour the hair of which you make your lines, for that is very needful to be known by an Angler; and also how to paint your rod, especially your top, for a right brown top is a choice commodity, and should be preserved from the water soaking into it, which makes it in wet weather to be heavy, and fish ill-favouredly, and not true, and also it rots quickly for want of painting; and I think a good top is worth preserving, or I had not taken care to keep a top above twenty years.

"But first for your line. First, Note, that you are to take care, that your hair be round and clear, and free from galls or scabs, or frets; for a well-chosen, even, clear, round hair, of a kind of glass-colour, will prove as strong as three uneven, scabby hairs, that are ill-chosen, and full of galls or unevenness. You shall seldom find a black hair but it is round, but many white are flat and uneven, therefore, if you get a lock of right, round, clear, glass-colour hair, make much of it.

"And for making your line, observe this rule, first let your hair be clean washed ere you go about to twist it; and then choose not only the clearest for it, but hairs that be of an equal bigness, for such do usually stretch all together, and break all together, which hairs of an unequal bigness never do, but break singly, and so deceive the Angler that trusts to them.

"When you have twistea your links, lay them in water for a quarter of an hour at least, and then twist them over again before you tie them into a line; for those that do not so, shall usually find their line to have a hair or two shrink, and be shorter than the rest at the first fishing with it, which is so much of the strength of the line lost for want of first watering it and then re-twisting it; and this is most visible in a seven-hair line, one of those which hath always a black hair in the middle.

"And for dyeing of your hairs, do it thus:

Take a pint of strong ale, half a pound of soot, and a little quantity of the juice of walnut-tree leaves, and an equal quantity of alum; put these together into a pot, pan, or pipkin, and boil them half an hour; and having so done, let it cool; and being cold, put your hair into it, and there let it lie; it will turn your hair to be a kind of water or glass-colour, or greenish, and the longer you let it lie, the deeper coloured it will be; you might be taught to make many other colours. but it is to little purpose; for doubtless the water-colour, or glass-coloured hair, is the most choice and most useful for an Angler; but let it not be too green.

"But if you desire to colour hair greener, then do it thus: take a quart of small ale, half a pound of alum; then put these into a pan or pipkin, and your hair into it with them; then put it upon a fire, and let it boil softly for half an hour; and then take out your hair, and let it dry; and having so done, then take a pottle of water, and put into it two handfuls of marygolds, and cover it with a tile, or what you think fit, and set it again on the fire, where it is to boil again softly for half an hour, about which time the scum will turn yellow; then put into it half a pound of copperas, beaten small, and with it the hair that you intend to colour; then let the hair be boiled softly till half the liquor be wasted; and then let it cool three or four hours, with your hair in it; and you are to observe that the more copperas you put into it the greener it will be; but doubtless the pale green is best; but if you desire yellow hair, which is only good when the weeds rot, then put in the more marygolds, and abate most of the copperas, or leave it quite out, and take a little verdigrise instead of it.

"This for colouring your hair. And as for painting your rod, which must be in oil, you must first make a size with glue and water boiled together until the glue be dissolved, and the size of a lye colour; then strike your size upon the wood with a bristle, or a brush, or pencil, whilst it is hot; that being quite dry, take white-lead, and a little red-lead, and a little coal-black, so much as all together will make an ash colour; grind these all together with linseed oil; let it be thick, and lay it thin upon the wood with a brush or pencil; this do for the ground of any colour to lie upon wood.

"For a green. Take pink and verdigrise, and grind them together in linseed oil, as thin as you can well grind it; then lay it smoothly on with your brush, and drive it thin; once doing, for the most part, will serve, if you lay it well; and if twice, be sure your first colour be thoroughly dry before you lay on a second."

LUDICROUS ANGLING ANECDOTES.-Sir John Hawkins, in his notes on the "Complete Angler," relates the following story:"A lover of angling told me he was fishing in the river Lea, at the ferry called Jeremy's, and