them carefully and methodically at his house near to Lambeth, near London,' as may get some belief of some of the other wonders I mentioned. I will tell the wonders that you may now see, and not till then believe, unless you think fit. .

You may there see the Hog-fish, the Dog-fish, the Dol

you some of

Note continued.]

The last dy'd in his spring : the other two
Liv'd till they had travell’d art and nature thro';
As by their choice collections may appear,
Of what is rare in land, in seas, in air ;
Whilst they (as Homer's Iliad, in a nut)
A world of wonders in one closet shut.
These famous Antiquarians, that had been,
Both Gardeners to the Rose and Lily Queen,
Transplanted now themselves, sleep here; and when
Angels shall with their trumpets waken men,
And fire shall purge the world, these hence shall rise,
And change their gardens for a Paradise.

The Tradescants were the first collectors of natural curiosities in this kingdom. The younger of them published in 1656, 12mo. * Museum Tradescantianum; or a Collection of Rarities preserved at South Lambeth, near London,' containing portraits of his father and himself, engraved by Hollar. Tradescant's House is still known by the name of Turret-House, and is now, or was in 1809, in the occupation of Charles Bedford, Esq. E.

4 Ashmole was, at first, a Solicitor in Chancery: but marrying a lady with a large fortune, and being well skilled in history and antiquities, he was promoted to the office of Windsor Herald, and wrote the “ History of the Order of the Garter," published in 1672, in folio. But addicting himself to the then fashionable studies of chemistry and judicial astrology; and associating himself with that silly crackbrained enthusiast, John Aubrey, Esq. of Surrey, and that egregious impostor, Lilly the Astrologer, he became a dupe to the knavery of the one, and the follies of both; and lost in a great measure the reputation he had acquired by this, and other of his writings. Of his weakness and superstition, he has left on record this memorable instance: “11th April, 1681, I took, early in the morning, a good dose of elixir, and hung three spiders about my neck; and they drove my ague away. Deo gratias." See “ Memoirs of the Life of that Antiquarian, Elias Ashmole, Esq. drawn up by himself by way of Diary, published by Charles Burman, Esq. 12mo. 1717," H.

phin, the Cony-fish, the Parrot-fish, the Shark, the Poisonfish, Sword-fish, and not only other incredible fish, but you may there see the Salamander, several sorts of Barnacles, of Solan-Geese, the Bird of Paradise, such sorts of Snakes, and such Bird's-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.'b

Lord ! C who hath praise enough, nay, who hath any ?
None can express thy works, but he that knows them;
And none can know thy works, theyd 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 strangelye and so sweetly move,
Whilstf all things have their end,5 yet none but thine.
Wherefore, most sacred Spirit! I here present,
For me, and all my fellows, praise to thee;
And just it is, that I should pay the rent,
Because the benefit accrues to me.

And as concerning fish, in that psalm,” 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 contem

6

Variation.] • Walton probably wrote from memory, as the stanzas which form part of a poem, entitled Providence,' are here transposed, and the following variations occur in Herbert's printed work. c But.

plative 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 in the 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,

8

Note.) Conrade Gesner, an eminent physician and naturalist, was born at Zurich in 1516. His skill in botany and natural history was such as procured him the appellation of the Pliny of Germany: and Beza, who knew him, scruples not to assert, that he concentrated in himself the learning of Pliny and Varro. Nor was he more distinguished for his learning, than esteemed and beloved for that probity and sweetness of manners, which rendered him conspicuous through the course of his life; notwithstanding which he laboured under the pressure of poverty, to a degree that compelled him to write for sustenance, and that in such haste, that his works, which are very numerous, are not exempt from marks of it. Besides Bibliotheca sive Catalogus Scriptorum Lat. Gr. & Hebr. tam extantium quam non extantium, Tiguri, 1545-55, he wrote Historia Animalium, and De Serpentum Naturâ, Tiguri, 1551-87; to both which works Walton frequently refers. This excellent person died in 1565. H.

7 Guillaume Rondelet, an eminent physician, born at Montpelier in Languedoc, 1507. He wrote a treatise De Piscibus marinis, Lugd. 1554-5, where all that Walton has taken from him is to be found. He died, very poor, of a surfeit, occasioned by eating figs to excess, in 1566. H.

8 Decius Ausonius, a native of Bordeaux; was a Latin Poet, Consul of Rome, and Preceptor to the Emperor Gratian. He died about 390. H.

9 Guillaume de Saluste Sieur du Bartas was a poet of great reputation in Walton's time. He wrote, besides numerous other productions, a poem in French, called Divine Weeks and Works; which was translated into English by Joshua Sylvester. The passage in the text occurs in the fifth day. H. To Du Bartas Milton is considered to have been much indebted.

The names quoted above, Gesner, Rondeletius, Pliny, &c. are the writers from whom Topsel, who wrote the History of Fourfooted Beasts, Fishes, &c., compiled his work, from which it is most probable Walton derived his information, rather than from the original authorities.

к

For seas

That in the waters we may see all creatures,
Even all that on the earth are to be found,
As if the world were in deep waters drown'd.

- as well as skies-have Sun, Moon, Stars;
As well as air-Swallows, Rooks, and Stares ; 1
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, and Hogs,
Wolves, Urchins, Lions, Elephants, and Dogs;
Yea Men and Maids; and, which I most admire,
The mitred Bishop and the cowled Friar : 2
Of which, examples, but a few years since,

Were shewn the Norway and Polonian 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 ;

Note.] 1 Or Starlings. Minsheu. H.

2 This story of the Bishop-fish is told by Rondeletius, and vouched by Bellonius. Without taking much pains in the translation, it is as follows: “In the year 1531, a fish was taken in Polonia, that represented a bishop. He was brought to the king; but seeming to desire to return to his own element, the king commanded him to be carried back to the sea, into which he immediately threw himself.” Rondeletius had before related the story of a Monk-fish, which is what Du Bartas means by the “ cowled Friar.” The reader may see the portraits of these wonderful personages in Rondeletius; or, in the Posthumous Works of the reverend and learned Mr. John Gregory, in 4to. Lond. 1683, pages 121, 122. Stow, in his Annals, p. 157, from the Chronicle of Radulphus Coggeshale, gives the following relation of a sea-monster, taken on the coast of Suffolk, temp. Hen. II. “Neare unto Orford in Suffolk, certaine fishers of the sea tooke in their nets a fish, having the shape of a man in all points : which fish was kept by Bartlemew de Glaunville, custos of the castle of Orford, in the same castle, by the space of six moneths and more, for a wonder. He spake not a word. All manner of meates he did eate, but most greedily raw fish, after he had crushed out the moisture. Oftentimes, he was brought to the church, where he shewed no tokens of adoration." “At length,” says this author, “when he was not well looked to, he

, stole away to the sea, and never after appeared.” H.

a

a

concerning which, I shall beg your patient car 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 Elian, 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.

4

The adult'rous Sargus doth not only change
Wives every day, in the deep streams, but, strange!

Note.) 3 Montaigne, Essays, and others, affirm this.

4 Ninth book Of Living Creatures, ch. 16. Claudius Ælianus was born at Præneste in Italy, in the reign of the Emperor Adrian. He wrote De Animalium Naturâ, and other works. H.