'i-od N A T IT3LAX H IS T'Ö R Y idfi i? 0 £ W W T C
<< head basin© fr e e m o t io n !; ' I f I
« fmrn r fh©ir- fo rm, ■ •i.i& o u id :itb in k i tlbaic «hecö-'iwantéd?
« neeeffary ifo folppart Jife> jc;jjtet,3a«itMifo> Few- exfornalrip^rts,
•“ they , are mote active,’'quicker5 atid imore. ingenious’ fhanüf
“ they had many hands and feet. They know ;fo‘Well how .to
“ ufe. their fails and te ^ ih ite ^ h e y ; flic»C{£örward:;like an. arrow
/A ï f ohi - Pbe ibowjc arid father t fly;thant ifiykri. Filh. devour g qnè
« another contuRaWiyl^ Row^: therefore, ^.it, might; Be* sdked, «tn
<| thefe inhabitants' of bhe water fubfift ! But here.'God’s provi-
m dence . has , allotted means, aridi orders- it thus, i What their
|L breed and enereafo ithall be.wonderfully g re a t,. and that their
| ï ;,fruitfülnefsift(adl b y riauda .exceed their.iièceflltyröf devouring
each ,other J lb that thofe-which are eatén iby others, are always
very Ihort of thole which arife from the next, brood When.
“ I confider how the;fmall Filh efeape from "the:large, by whom
they are looked upon as a: prey bélQngingrctOithein,itqïhuö£
« as" they pleafe, I feeiRe weak: are xhuehlthernimblëhj anctare
« always prepared, to fly in places where the water is;>fix iFhalloW^ as
«« not to allow the large ho follow them ;; $>: it; feems that ÉÉè
« Creator has made up for their weaknefs by giving .them'* fo
g much circumfpeöion. How comes it that Filh^can live/ -and
.« even be fo healthy. a&d* fo I could
(C not bear a drop of in my mouth ? How do theyj 'in the midffi
1 of fait,. preferVe their flelh from tafting . o f.it ? How comes
« it that the beft and fitteft Filh for the rife d£ «mankind
“ approach the Ihore, and, as it were, offer, themfelves to our
“ wants j when, on the contrary , , others, ; that are not lb ufcful,
<{ keep farther off f ? Why do Herrings, Mackarel, *&c; .all
“ which, in the time of thejr increafe and'growth,: diye in un-
“ known places, at certain fealbns appear in our feas about the
« coafts^as if to offer themfelves to the Filhermen, and even throw
i c themfelves into the nets, arid bn the; R o o k s?W h y do many
“ FHh,, as‘ the Lax, Oréder, Aalj BCc. crow'd themfelveè’ in
* For that,.rcafori there are-Sut fety.Sea;-anim^h, m the , Wha^e;.SaTp^f^^aad
Grampus,'; that,' accotdihg'to 'the manner , of land-qtiiiftals^ DTin£ f?rih meir. Yojing
alive ; tbe^ppfbaryavipsrousi 1cm sftrfdvasibreed fromijsiwri} arid cdntraryto Birds’,
which lay annually in each pejft a;fevy eggs, each of 'thefe has annually ntóny£ iooo
e^gs to caft on the bottom öf 'the f e a .Th e author of Biblioth. Bntannique, T . xqq.
.U not .entirely of Mr/’RolBh’s èplóiöri'fii this rêfpeêf, %itn regard to
.GcxVs providence, hnd immediate defign. \Y - ;-!■ m ! ltd y,'i y
,■?; In' this' the glory of God’s providence is iriolt reiriarkaMb 5 we fee each Filh in its
kind has, at certain dx’d feafons pf the year, a particular inclination to approach the
land • and this alwajs at: k time when they are' the fatteft, and not ernsciated, by
brèeÖittg : 'as tht Salmon in the' Spring, Mackarel aftef Midfuteniér,j Herrings in :the
Autumn1, God in the Winter, &c, •
N . A T U R A L H I S T O R Y of m o R W A K K
“ heaps up the mouth of rivers, . [to; go ftill furt^r up,-, that
Ifiiv® ^an<^ ma7 participate pf the benefits of . the .ocean, . which
‘‘(jlies far off? ^[hpfe hand but thine,\Q Lord, guides them
te lb wifely! tho’ tfiy groat cargjj is l^dpm;.receiyed, with due
^-thankfulnefs.”' Sp far Mr. Roilin.
■ s e '^ T./;'iir. •
Whait I have before pbferyed,;yconcerning ivthe’ dividing .ap^pkera&i.
ranging pf birds * in’ different clafles,, is appjicpbl^ to }Pjm e^ j& .
namely, .that altho’ fuch^a met;hod( tends to gifve,a ql^arei; idea
of them, yet there, arifes from it greater 4; |b.r .many,
nearly allied in one relpeéjt, may have re)iaüprirto another clafs in
other particularitrlp^ that Jt^jlp. freque/l|fte^p|jpng.{ render
that method in itfelf uncertain, and; liable , tbj,gre|f perplexity^
For this realbn I lhall here again follow the 'order jof the, alphabet,
diftfibri^ng the .FilRes o f . Npnyayac,cpr^.ing to , ftheir
ritmes. Neverthelels, there?are ^certain' Filh and Sea-anipials,
\yhich are lb entirely diftin£t from the reft of the inhabitants} of
the wa|ery element^ that one cannot conveniently, mix .them, with
the reft : for that, realbn I, have, taken ^ thefe laft out j ojf, the prq^
pofed alphabetical order, ancf! put them each by themfelvpsf .in
two* chapters-^Thele are firft the different kinds of J(Filh, v|bich
are furrounded with a ftony or hard IRell, wherein .they live, as if
in a hoflfe, that ‘ grows with them: and, fecondly,, the-,yariaris 1 ,
Sea^morijters, a,?: fhey are called, or^nqyicgis the
^Ptth fea; ©f?wflich .lorrie have hitherto been held
^id looked upon as chimeras. Thefe laft, I hope^ from; ibis
time, |.^vijj havé ibme credit jvitb thofe. that fRaye. ...not
|bro\yn, off all .Riftorical faitb. When tbofe tyfo* clafles are
feparated, then the reft will follow one;.anbther^ according So’
the order of the- alphabet, as -has been, laid abovp. -
?8 E C T. ' iy .
Aal, the Eel, Anguilla, is a long and round,,Filh, very well Aa
known every inhere j it is beft and fatteft in frelRvijafers, but it
•leldom grows there above 24 or 30 irtcnes long; but, on the!}cbnP
trary, the Norway Sea-Eels, which are leaner, are four-or five ells
long, and are much like a Inake, according to the Latin name
Anguilla, which lignifies a kind, of lriake, or lomething allied to
that foecies *. They thrive beft in muddy’ waterbi ;^nd are
* A friend of mine has -told m®-,1 that he- has fgSB&an« Eel- -two fadiotro Iorfg,
and, when cut up, an ell wide; his. people took it to be aj fnake* ant^s^o^d riot „
eat it.