.

Tho' chang'd his form, his Avarice remains,
And in his breast the love of Lucre reigns.
For SATURN flying from victorious Jove,
Compell'd of old, in banishment to rove
Along th' Italian shore, a Vessel found
Beyond the Lake of wide Benacus bound;
He, for his passage, at a price agreed,
And with large gifts of Gold the Master fee'd.
But he the Master (Carpus was he nam'd)
With thirst of gain, and love of Gold inflam'd;
Prepar'd in chains the Passenger to bind,

• But to the God his face betray'd his mind,
And from the Vessel in revenge he threw
Into the waves the Pilot and his Crew;
Then into Fish the Traytors he transform'd,
The Traytors, still with love of Lucre warm'd,
The sailing ship for golden Fragments trace,
And prove themselves deriv'd from human Race*.

If running waters overflow your Lakes,

There best the Barbel + thrive with speckled backs;

* To the tale of Lucre respecting the Carp, may be not inappropriately attached "a Controuersie of a conquest in Loue 'twixt FORTUNE and VENUS."

"Whilst Fissher kest his line the houering fish to hooke,

By hap a rich man's Daughter on the Fissher kest hir looke.
Shee fryde with frantick loue, they marid eke at last:
Thus Fissher was from lowe Estate in top of treasure plast.

Stoode FORTUNE by and smylde: how say you, Dame,' quoth shee

To VENUS, 'was this Conquest your's, or is it due to mee?'
'Twas I (quoth VULCAN's wife) with help of CUPID's Bowe,
That made this wanton wench to rage, and match her selfe so lowe.'
Not so, 'twas FORTUNE I, that brought the trull in place;
And Fortune was it that the Man stoode so in Mayden's grace;
By FORTUNE fell their loue, 'twas FORTUNE strake the stroke;
Then detter is this Man to mee that did the Match prouoke."

Epitaphes, Epigrams, &c. by GEORGE TURBERVILE.

+"Timorous Barbels will not taste the bit
Till with their Tayls they haue unhooked it:

And Roach, which shoot as swiftly thro' the flood
As Arrows, flying from the bending wood*;

Loaches which on the sandy bottom lie;
Menows, which constant stores of Eggs supply;
Graylings that smell like Thyme's delightful flow'r;
Gudgeons who Gravel greedily devour;

Perch like sea Mullets both in taste and smell,
And Pollards which within with prickles swell.

In either stream the Carp† contented dwells, With plenteous spawn thro' all the Year she swells, And in all places and all Seasons breeds,

In Lakes as well as Rivers: hence proceeds

The name of Cyprian, which the CYPRIAN Dame
Bestow'd; the French to Carp have chang'd the name.
Of all the Fish that swim the wat'ry mead,
Not one in Cunning can the Carp exceed.
Sometimes when Nets enclose the stream, she flies
To hollow rocks, and there in secret lies:

And all the Bayts the Fisher can deuise,
Cannot beguile their wary Jealousies."

SYLVESTER's Du Bartas.

like as the litle Roch

Must either be eat, or leap upon the shore,
When as the hungary Pickerell doth approch,
And there finde Death which it esca pt before.

BALDWIN'S Owen Glendour, Mirrour for M. 1575.

"The Pike, the Roach, the Cheuen and the Dace,
The Bream, the Barble with his bearded face,
The Pearch, the Gudgeon, and the silver Eele,
Which Millers taken in their ozier weele,
Dwell in the riuer as principall Fish,
And giuen to PAN to garnish thy dish,
The Salmon, Trout, Flounder and Creuise,
Doe dwell in Riuers where the Menow is.
The Princely Carpe, and medicinable Tench,
In bottom of a Poole themselues doe trench."

BRETON'S Ourania,

Sometimes the Surface of the water skims,
And springing o'er the Net, undaunted swims;
Now motionless she lies beneath the flood,
Holds by a weed, or sinks into the mud:
Nay, not content with this, she oft will dive
Beneath the Net, and not alone contrive
Means for her own Escape, but pity take
On all her hapless Brethren of the Lake;
For rising, with her back she lifts the Snare,
And frees the Captives with officious care *.
No other Fish so great an Age attain,
For the same Carp, which from the wat❜ry plain
The VALOIS' seated on the Throne survey'd,
Now sees the Sceptre by the BOURBONS Sway'd;

Tho' Age has whiten'd o'er the scaly backs
Of the old Carp which swim the royal Lakes;
They, neither barren, nor inactive, grow,

But still in sport the waves around 'em throw+:

* Thus MONTAIGNE relates of the Scarus "having swallowed the fisher's Hooke, his fellowes will presently flocke about him, and nibble the line in sunder; and if any of them happen to be taken in a Bow-nét, some of his fellowes will put his taile in at the neck of the net, who with his teeth fast holding the same, never leave him, vntil they have pulled him out. Barbles, if one of them chance to be engaged, will set the line against their backes, and with a Fin they have, toothed like a sharp Saw, presently saw and fret the same asunder."

+ The Dialogue of Creatures moralised, being one of the scarcest Works of early Typography, another Extract may amuse. "Dialogo xlvi. Of a Fyssh callyd a Carpe, and a Fissh called Tymallus. It happyd in a greate solempne feste, Fisshes of the floode walkyd togidre after Dynar in great tranquillyte and peace for to take ther recreacyon and solace; but the Carpe began to trowble the feste, erectynge hym self by pryde & saynge, I am worthy to be lawdyd aboue all othir, for my flesshe is delicate and swete more than it can be tolde of. I haue not be nourished nothir in dychesse, nor stondyngh watyrs, nor pondes; but I haue be brought vppe in the floode of the greate garde. Wherfore I owe to be Prynce and Regent amonge all yowe. Ther is a Fissh callyd Tymallus, hauinge his name a Flowre, for Timus is callyd a Flowre; and this Tymallus is a Fissh of the See, as saith ISIDORE, Ethimologiarum, xii, and allthoughe that he be fauoureable in sight and delectable in taste, yet moreouir the Fyssh of hym smellyth swete lyke a flowre and geuith a pleasaunte odour. And so this Fyssh Tymallus, hering this saynge of the Carpe, had greate scorne of him and sterte forth & sayde: It is not

F

Here safe, the Depths no longer they explore;
But, their huge bulk extending near the Shore,
Take freely from our Hands what we bestow,
And grace the royal Streams at FOUNTAINBLEAU.

Tho' the rich Pike, to entertain your Guest,
Smokes on the board and decks a royal Feast;
Yet must you not this cruel Savage place
In the same Ponds that lodge the finny Race:
In the same Tow'r you might as well unite,
The fearful Pigeons and the rav'nous Kite;
In the same yard the Fox with Chickens keep,
Or place the hungry Wolf with harmless Sheep.
For he, the Tyrant of the wat'ry Plains

Devours all Fish, nor from his Kind abstains;

as thou sayste, for I shine more bright than thowe, and excede the in odowre and relece. Who may be comparyd vnto me, for he that fyndith me hath a great Tresowre. If thow haue thy dwellynge oonly in the watir of garde, I haue myn abydynge in many large floodes. And so emong them were great stryuis and contencyons. Wherfore the feste was tournyd in to great trowble, for some fauowryd the parte of the one and some of the othir, so that be lyklyhode there shuld haue growen greate myschefe emonge them: for euery of them began to snak at othir, & wulde haue torne eche other on smale pecys. Ther was monge all othir a Fissh callyd Truta euyr mouyd to breke stryfe; and soo thys Trowte for asmoche as she was agid, and wele lernyd, she spake and sayde: Bredryn, it is not good to stryue & fight for vayne lawdatowris and praysers; for I pray se not my self though some personis thinke me worthy to be commendid; for it is wryttyn, the Mowth of an othir Man mote commende the and not thyn owne, for all commendacyon and lawde of hym self is fowle in ye. mouth of the Spekar. Therefore bettyr hit is that those that prayse them self goo togider to the see Iuge, that is, the Dolphyn, which is a iust Iuge and a rightfull and dredinge God, for he shall rightfully determyn this mater. This Counsell plesyd them well, and forth went these twayn togider vnto the Dolphyn and shewyd to him all ther myndes, and to ther power comendid the self. To whom the Dolphyn sayde: Children, I neuyr sawe yowe tell this tyme, for ye be alwaye hydde in the floodes, and I am steringe in the great Wawys of the See; wher fore I cannot gyue ryghtfull Sentence betwene yowe, but yf I first assaye and make a Taste of yowe. And thus saynge, he gaue a sprynge and swalowyd them in both two, and sayde,

Noman owith hym self to commende,

Aboue all other, laste he offende.

Unless hoarse Frogs infest the fenny place;
For then he feasts on the loquacious race;
Or when a Goose sports on the azure wave,
Delighting in the stream her limbs to lave,
Or dips her head, and with a clam'rous sound,
Provokes the rain, and throws the water round
The Pike arrests the Fowl with hungry jaws,
And to the bottom of the River draws;
Nay, as a Boy in the smooth current swims,
His teeth he fixes in his tender limbs.*

The Trout loves Rivers in obscure Retreats;
Thrown into standing Water, she forgets
Her former Beauty, and neglects her love,
And all the Flesh will then insipid prove;
From hence remember, with a timely Care,
For Trout a running Water to prepare:

Near some wide River's mouth a place provide,

And with smooth Grass and Turf adorn the side;

*Of the Voracity of Pike many well attested Accounts have been given. The following one certainly borders upon the Marvellous. A common-sized Jack, placed by mistake on the wrong side of the division in a Keep, destroying in a few hours near thirty Gudgeons, (a small brace of Perch escaping) is a circumstance within my own knowledge; but, whatever may be its Propensity for the Gudgeon, the Reader must decide the credit due to a Newspaper of 1801 for the following Story." A party angling at Sunbury, one of them sat across the head of the Boat, as a punishment inflicted on him for wearing his Spurs. Another having caught a Gudgeon, stuck it on one of the Spurs, which he not perceiving, in about a few minutes a large Jack bit at the Gudgeon, and the Spur being crane-necked, entangled in the gills of the Jack, which, in attempting to extricate itself, actually pulled the unfortunate person out of the Boat. He was with difficulty dragged on Shore, and the Fish taken, which was of a prodigious Size."

It is fortunate, that the Pike breeds but once a year, agreeable to the Course of Providence, observed in the Production of Animals, in which the disproportion in Number, between Beasts, Birds, and Fishes, of Prey, and those of each Genus designed for the Sustenance of Man, is obvious. The Lion: and the Sheep ;-the Hawk: and the Hen,-the Shark: and the Herring, are severally, in their Kinds, Instances of this wonderful Economy in the Works of Nature.