too, let him be never so grave, that hath not heard what anglers can say in the justification of their Art and Recreation; which I may again tell you, is so full of pleasure, that we need not borrow their thoughts to hink ourselves happy.

Venator. Sir, you have almost amazed me; for, though I am no scoffer, yet I have-I pray let me speak it without offence -always looked upon anglers as more patient and more simple men than, I fear, I shall find you to be.

Piscator. Sir, I hope you will not judge my earnestness to be impatience and for my simplicity, if by that you mean a harmlessness, or that simplicity which was usually found in the primitive Christians, who were, as most anglers are, quiet men, and followers of peace-men that were so simply wise as not to sell their consciences to buy riches, and with them vexation and a fear to die, -if you mean such simple men as lived in those times when there were fewer lawyers-when men might have had a lordship safely conveyed to them in a piece of parchment no bigger than your hand, though several sheets will not do it safely in this wiser age,—I say, sir, if you take us anglers to be such simple men as I have spoke of, then myself and those of my profession will be glad to be so understood: But if by simplicity you meant to express a general defect in those that profess and practise the excellent art of angling, 1 hope in time to disabuse you, and make the contrary appear so evidently, that if you will but have patience to hear me, I shall remove all the anticipations that discourse, or time, or prejudice, have possessed you with against that laudable and ancient art; for I know it is worthy the knowledge and practice of a wise

man.

But, gentlemen, though I be able to do this, I am not so unmannerly as to engross all the discourse to myself; and, therefore, you two having declared yourselves, the one to be a lover of hawks, the other of hounds, I shall be most glad to hear what you can say in the commendation of that recreation which each of you love and practise; and having heard what you can say, I shall be glad to exercise your attention with what I can say concerning my own recreation and art of angling, and, by this means, we shall make the way to seem the shorter; and if you like my motion, I would have Mr Falconer to begin.

Auceps. Your motion is consented to with all my heart; and to testify it, I will begin as you have desired me.

And first, for the element that I use to trade in, which is the air, an element of more worth than weight, an element that doubtless exceeds both the earth and water; for though I sometimes deal in both, yet the air is most properly mine-I and my hawks use that most, and it yields us most recreation: it stops not the high soaring of my noble generous falcon; in it she

ascends to such a height as the dull eyes of beasts and fish are not able to reach to; their bodies are too gross for such high elevations in the air my troops of hawks soar up on high, and when they are lost in the sight of men, then they attend upon and converse with the gods; therefore I think my eagle is so justly styled Jove's servant in ordinary: and that very falcon that I am now going to see, deserves no meaner a title, for she usually in her flight endangers herself, like the son of Dædalus, to have her wings scorched by the sun's heat, she flies so near it; but her mettle makes her careless of danger, for she then heeds nothing, but makes her nimble pinions cut the fluid air, and so makes her highway over the steepest mountains and deepest rivers, and, in her glorious career, looks with contempt upon those high steeples and magnificent palaces which we adore and wonder at; from which height I can make her to descend, by a word from my mouth, (which she both knows and obeys,) to accept of meat from my hand, to own me for her master, to go home with me, and be willing the next day to afford me the like recreation.

And more: this element of air, which I profess to trade in, the worth of it is such, and it is of such necessity, that no creature whatsoever not only those numerous creatures that feed on the face of the earth, but those various creatures that have their dwelling within the waters, every creature that hath life in its nostrils, stands in need of my element. The waters cannot preserve the fish without air, witness the not breaking of ice in an extreme frost; the reason is, for that if the inspiring and expiring organ of any animal be stopped, it suddenly yields to nature and dies. Thus necessary is air to the existence both of fish and beasts, nay, even to man himself; that air, or breath of life, with which God at first inspired mankind, he, if he wants it, dies presently, becomes a sad object to all that loved and beheld him, and in an instant turns to putrefaction.

Nay, more, the very birds of the air, those that be not hawks, are both so many, and so useful and pleasant to mankind, that Í must not let them pass without some observations: they both feed and refresh him; feed him with their choice bodies, and refresh him with their heavenly voices:* I will not undertake to mention the several kinds of fowl by which this is done: and his curious palate pleased by day, and which with their very excrements afford him a soft lodging at night. These I will pass by,

To these particulars may be added, that the kings of Persia were wont to hawk after butterflies with sparrows and stares, or starlings, trained for the purpose. -Burton on Melancholy, 1651, p. 268. from the relations of Sir Anthony Shirley. And we are also told, that M. de Luisnes, (afterwards prime minister of France,) in the nonage of Louis XIII, gained much upon him by making hawks catch little birds, and by making some of those little birds again catch butterflies. Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, p. 134.

but not those little nimble musicians of the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art.

As first the lark, when she means to rejoice; to cheer herself and those that hear her; she then quits the earth and sings as she ascends higher into the air, and having ended her heavenly employment, grows then mute and sad, to think she must descend to the dull earth, which she would not touch, but for necessity. How do the blackbird and throssel,* with their melodious voices, bid welcome to the cheerful Spring, and in their fixed months warble forth such ditties as no art or instrument can reach to!

Nay, the smaller birds also do the like in their particular seasons, as namely the laverock,† the titlark, the little linnet, and the honest robin, that loves mankind both alive and dead.

But the nightingale, another of my airy creatures, breathes such sweet loud music out of her little instrumental throat, that it might make mankind to think miracles are not ceased. He that at midnight, when the very labourer sleeps securely, should hear, as I have very often, the clear airs, the sweet descants, the natural rising and falling, the doubling and redoubling of her voice, might well be lifted above earth, and say, "Lord, what music has thou provided for the saints in heaven, when thou affordest bad men such music on earth!"

And this makes me the less to wonder at the many aviaries in Italy, or at the great charge of Varro his aviary, the ruins of which are yet to be seen in Rome, and is still so famous there, that it is reckoned for one of those notables which men of foreign nations either record or lay up in their memories when they return from travel.

This for the birds of pleasure, of which very much more might be said. My next shall be of birds of political use. I think 'tis not to be doubted that swallows have been taught to carry letters between two armies. But 'tis certain, that when the Turks besieged Malta or Rhodes- I now remember not which it was— pigeons are then related to carry and recarry letters: and Mr G. Sandys, in his Travels, relates it to be done betwixt Aleppo and Babylon. But if that be disbelieved, it is not to be doubted that the dove was sent out of the ark by Noah, to give him notice of land, when to him all appeared to be sea; and the dove proved a faithful and comfortable messenger. And for the sacrifices of the law, a pair of turtle-doves, or young pigeons, were as well accepted as costly bulls and rams. "And when God would feed the prophet Elijah," 1 Kings xvii. after a kind of miraculous manner, he did it by ravens, who brought him meat morning and

The song thrush, (turdus musicus.)-- J. R.

The skylark. Walton's name, laverock, is still common in Scotland. -J. R.

evening. Lastly, the Holy Ghost, when he descended visibly upon our Saviour, did it by assuming the shape of a dove. And, to conclude this part of my discourse, pray remember these wonders were done by birds of the air, the element in which they and I take so much pleasure.

There is also a little contemptible winged creature, an inhabitant of my aërial element, namely, the laborious bee, of whose prudence, policy, and regular government of their own commonwealth, I might say much, as also of their several kinds, and how useful their honey and wax are both for meat and medicines to mankind; but I will leave them to their sweet labour, without the least disturbance, believing them to be all very busy at this very time amongst the herbs and flowers that we see nature puts forth this May morning.

And now to return to my hawks, from whom I have made too long a digression: you are to note, that they are usually distinguished into two kinds, namely, the long-winged and the short-winged hawk; of the first kind, there be chiefly in use amongst us in this nation, the Gerfalcon and Jerkin, the Falcon and Tassel-gentel, the Laner and Laneret, the Bockerel and Bockeret, the Saker and Sacaret, the Merlin and Jack Merlin, the Hobby and Jack.

There is the Stelletto of Spain, the Blood-red Rook from Turkey, the Waskite from Virginia.

And there is of short-winged hawks, the Eagle and Iron, the Goshawk and Tarcel, the Sparhawk and Musket, the French Pye, of two sorts.

These are reckoned hawks of note and worth; but we have also of an inferior rank, the Stanyel, the Ringtail, the Raven, the Buzzard, the Forked Kite, the Bald Buzzard, the Hendriver, and others that I forbear to name.

Gentlemen, if I should enlarge my discourse to the observation of the Eires, the Brancher, the Ramish Hawk, the Haggard, and the two sorts of Lentners, and then treat of their several ayries, their mewings, rare order of casting, and the renovation of their feathers their reclaiming, dieting, and then come to their rare stories of practice,-I say, if I should enter into these and many other observations that I could make, it would be much, very much pleasure to me: but lest I should break the rules of civility with you, by taking up more than the proportion of time allotted to me, I will here break off, and entreat you, Mr Venator, to say what you are able in the commendation of hunting, to which you are so much affected; and if time will serve, I will beg your favour for a farther enlargement of some of those several heads of which I have spoken. But no more at present.

Venator. Well, sir, and I will now take my turn, and will

The

first begin with a commendation of the earth, as you have done most excellently of the air; the earth being that element upon which I drive my pleasant, wholesome, hungry trade. earth is a solid settled element; an element most universally beneficial both to man and beast; to men who have their several recreations upon it, as horse races, hunting, sweet smells, pleasant walks: the earth feeds man and all those several beasts that both feed him and afford him recreation. What pleasure doth man take in hunting the stately stag, the generous buck, the wild boar, the cunning otter, the crafty fox, and the fearful hare! And if I may descend to a lower game, what pleasure is it sometimes with gins to betray the very vermin of the earth! as namely, the Fichat, the Fulimart, the Ferret, the Polecat,* the Mouldwarp, and the like creatures that live upon the face and within the bowels of the earth. How doth the earth bring forth herbs, flowers, and fruits, both for physic and the pleasure of mankind; and above all, to me at least, the fruitful vine, of which when I drink moderately, it clears my brain, cheers my heart, and sharpens my wit. How could Cleopatra have feasted Mark Antony with eight wild boars roasted whole at one supper, and other meat suitable, if the earth had not been a bountiful mother? But to pass by the mighty Elephant, which the earth breeds and nourisheth, and descend to the least of creatures, how doth the earth afford us a doctrinal example in the little Pismire, who, in the summer, provides and lays up her winter provision, and teaches man to do the like! The earth feeds and carries those horses that carry us! If I would be prodigal of my time and your patience, what might not I say in commendations of the earth, that puts limits to the proud and raging sea, and by that means preserves both man and beast that it destroys them not, as we see it daily doth those that venture upon the sea, and are there shipwrecked, drowned, and left to feed haddocks; when we that are so wise as to keep ourselves on earth, walk, and talk, and live, and eat, and drink, and go a-hunting; of which recreation I will say a little, and then leave Mr Piscator to the commendation of Angling.

Hunting is a game for princes and noble persons. It hath been highly prized in all ages: it was one of the qualifications that Xenophon bestowed on his Cyrus, that he was a hunter of wild beasts. Hunting trains up the younger nobility to the use of manly exercises in their riper age. What more manly exercise than hunting the wild boar, the stag, the buck, the fox, or the

The fitchet, or fitchew; the fulimart, or fumart; the ferret, and the polecat, appear to be all the same species, (mustela putorius.)—J. R. The mole, still called mouduwart in Scotland, J. R.

This is a popular mistake. Ants remain torpid, or nearly so, during winter, and do not then eat, as I have repeatedly proved, by opening their nests, in which I never could detect any winter provision of food. — J. R.

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