(_whale of some sort_) penetrates to our seas even. It is said that they
are not to be seen in the ocean of Gades (_Bay of Cadiz_) before the
winter solstice, and that at periodical seasons they retire and conceal
themselves in some calm capacious bay, in which they take a delight in
bringing forth. This fact, however, is known to the Orca, an animal
which is particularly hostile to the Balæna, and the form of which
cannot be in any way accurately described, but as an enormous mass of
flesh, armed with teeth. This animal attacks the Balæna in its place of
retirement, and with its teeth tears its young, or else attacks the
females which have just brought forth, and, indeed, while they are still
pregnant; and, as they rush upon them, it pierces them just as though
they had been attacked by the beak of a Liburnian Galley. The female
Balænæ, devoid of all flexibility, without energy to defend themselves,
and overburdened by their own weight; weakened, too, by gestation, or
else the pains of recent parturition, are well aware that their only
resource is to take flight in the open sea, and to range over the whole
face of the ocean; while the Orcæ, on the other hand, do all in their
power to meet them in their flight, throw themselves in their way, and
kill them either cooped up in a narrow passage, or else drive them on a
shoal, or dash them to pieces against the rocks. When these battles are
witnessed, it appears just as though the sea were infuriate against
itself; not a breath of wind is there to be felt in the bay, and yet the
waves, by their pantings and their repeated blows, are heaved aloft in a
way which no whirlwind could effect.
“An Orca has been seen even in the port of Ostia, where it was attacked
by the Emperor Claudius. It was while he was constructing the harbour
there that this orca came, attracted by some hides, which, having been
brought from Gaul, had happened to fall overboard there. By feeding
upon these for several days it had quite glutted itself, having made for
itself a channel in the shoaly water. Here, however, the sand was thrown
up by the action of the wind to such an extent that the creature found
it quite impossible to turn round; and while in the act of pursuing its
prey, it was propelled by the waves towards the shore, so that its back
came to be perceived above the level of the water, very much resembling
in appearance the keel of a vessel turned bottom upwards. Upon this,
Cæsar ordered a number of nets to be extended at the mouth of the
harbour, from shore to shore, while he himself went there with the
Prætorian Cohorts, and so afforded a spectacle to the Roman people; for
boats assailed the monster, while the soldiers on board showered lances
upon it. I, myself, saw one of the boats sunk by the water which the
animal, as it respired, showered down upon it.”
Olaus Magnus thus writes “Of the fight between the Whale and the Orca. A
_Whale_ is a very great fish, about one hundred, or three hundred foot
long, and the body is of a vast magnitude, yet the _Orca_, which is
smaller in quantity, but more nimble to assault, and cruel to come on,
is his deadly Enemy. An Orca is like a Hull turned inwards outward; a
Beast with fierce Teeth, with which, as with the Stern of a Ship, he
rends the _Whale’s_ Guts, and tears its Calve’s body open, or he quickly
runs and drives him up and down with his prickly back, that he makes him
run to Fords and Shores. But the _Whale_, that cannot turn its huge
body, not knowing how to resist the wily _Orca_, puts all its hopes in
flight; yet that flight is weak, because this sluggish Beast, burdned by
its own weight, wants one to guide her, to fly to the Foords, to escape
the dangers.”
THE DOLPHIN.
Pliny says:--“The Dolphin is an animal not only friendly to man, but a
lover of music as well; he is charmed by melodious concerts, and more
especially by the notes of the water organ. He does not dread man, as
though a stranger to him, but comes to meet ships, leaps and bounds to
and fro, vies with them in swiftness, and passes them even when in full
sail.
“In the reign of the late Emperor Augustus, a dolphin which had been
carried to the Lucrine Lake, conceived a most wonderful affection for
the child of a certain poor man, who was in the habit of going that way
from Baiæ to Puteoli to school, and who used to stop there in the middle
of the day, call him by his name of _Simo_, and would often entice him
to the banks of the lake with pieces of bread which he carried for the
purpose. At whatever hour of the day he might happen to be called by the
boy, and although hidden and out of sight at the bottom of the water, he
would instantly fly to the surface, and after feeding from his hand,
would present his back for him to mount, taking care to conceal the
spiny projection of his fins in their sheath, as it were; and so,
sportively taking him up on his back, he would carry him over a wide
expanse of sea to the school at Puteoli, and in a similar manner bring
him back again. This happened for several years, until, at last, the boy
happened to fall ill of some malady, and died. The Dolphin, however,
still came to the same spot as usual, with a sorrowful air, and
manifesting every sign of deep affliction, until at last, a thing of
which no one felt the slightest doubt, he died purely of sorrow and
regret.
“Within these few years also, another at Hippo Diarrhytus, on the coast
of Africa, in a similar manner used to receive his food from the hands
of various persons, present himself for their caresses, sport about
among the swimmers, and carry them on his back. On being rubbed with
unguents by Flavianus, the then pro-consul of Africa, he was lulled to
sleep, as it appeared, by the sensation of an odour so new to him, and
floated about just as though he had been dead. For some months after
this, he carefully avoided all intercourse with man, just as if he had
received some affront or other; but, at the end of that time, he
returned, and afforded just the same wonderful scenes as before. At
last, the vexations that were caused them by having to entertain so many
influential men who came to see this sight, compelled the people of
Hippo to put the animal to death....
“Hegesidemus has also informed us, that, in the city of Iasus (_the
island and city of Caria_), there was another boy also, Hermias by name,
who in a similar manner used to traverse the sea on a dolphin’s back,
but that, on one occasion, a tempest suddenly arising, he lost his life,
and was brought back dead: upon which, the dolphin, who thus admitted
that he had been the cause of his death, would not return to the sea,
but lay down upon dry land and there expired.”
Du Bartas gives us a new trait in the Dolphin’s character:--
“Even as the Dolphins do themselves expose,
For their live fellows, and beneath the waves
Cover their dead ones under sandy graves.”
THE NARWHAL,
generally called the Monoceros or Sea Unicorn, is thus shown in one
place, by Gesner; and, rough though it is, it is far more like the
Narwhal’s horn than is the other, also, in his work, of a Sea Rhinoceros
or Narwhal engaged in combat with an outrageous-sized Lobster, or
Kraken, I know not which; for, as we shall presently see, the Kraken is
represented as a Crayfish or Lobster. It was the long twisted horn of
the Narwhal which did duty for ages as the horn of the fabled Unicorn, a
gift worthy to be presented by an Emperor to an Emperor.
[Illustration]
This sketch of Gesner’s, he describes as a one-horned monster with a
sharp nose, devouring a Gambarus. Olaus Magnus dismisses the Narwhal
very curtly:--“The Unicorn is a Sea Beast, having in his forehead a
very great Horn, wherewith he can penetrate, and destroy the ships in
his way, and drown multitudes of men. But divine goodnesse hath provided
for the safety of Marriners herein; for, though he be a very fierce
Creature, yet is he very slow, that such as fear his coming may fly from
him.”
[Illustration]
The earlier voyagers who really saw the Narwhal, fairly accurately
described it; as Baffin, whose name is so familiar to us by the bay
called after him:--“As for the Sea Unicorne, it being a great fish,
having a long horn or bone growing forth of his forehead or nostrill,
such as Sir Martin Frobisher, in his second voyage found one, in divers
places we saw them, which, if the horne be of any good value, no doubt
but many of them may be killed;” and Frobisher, as reported in Hakluyt,
says:--“On this west shore we found a dead fish floating, which had in
his nose a horne streight, and torquet, (_twisted_) of length two yards
lacking two ynches. Being broken in the top, here we might perceive it
hollow, into the which some of our sailors, putting spiders, they
presently died. I saw not the triall hereof, but it was reported unto me
of a truth; by the vertue thereof we supposed it to be the Sea
Unicorne.”
THE SWAMFISCK.
[Illustration]
The accompanying illustration, though heading the chapter in Olaus
Magnus regarding the Swamfisck and other fish, does not at all seem to
elucidate the text:--“The Variety of these Fish, or rather Monsters, is
here set down, because of their admirable form, and many properties of
Nature, as they often come to the _Norway_ Shores amongst other
Creatures, and they are catcht for their Fat, which they have in great
plenty and abundance. For the Fisher-men purge it, by boyling it like
flesh, on the fire, and they sell it to anoint leather, or for Oyl to
burn in Lamps, to continue light, when it is perpetual darkness.
Wherefore the first Monster that comes, is of a round form, in _Norway_
called _Swamfisck_, the greatest glutton of all other Sea-Monsters. For
he is scarce satisfied, though he eat continually. He is said to have no
distinct stomach; and so what he eats turns into the thickness of his
body, that he appears nothing else than one Lump of Conjoyned Fat. He
dilates and extends himself beyond measure, and when he can be extended
no more, he easily casts out fishes by his mouth because he wants a neck
as other fishes do. His mouth and belly are continued one to the other.
But this Creature is so thick, that when there is danger, he can, (like
the Hedg-Hog) re-double his flesh, fat and skin, and contract and cover
himself; nor doth he that but to his own loss, because fearing Beasts
that are his Enemies, he will not open himself when he is oppressed
with hunger, but lives by feeding on his own flesh, choosing rather to
be consumed in part by himself, than to be totally devoured by Wild
Beasts. If the danger be past, he will try to save himself.
“THE SAHAB.
“There is also another Sea-Monster, called _Sahab_, which hath small
feet in respect of its great body, but he hath one long one, which he
useth in place of a hand to defend all his parts; and with that he puts
meat into his mouth, and digs up grass. His feet are almost gristly, and
made like the feet of a Cow or Calf. This Creature swimming in the
water, breathes, and when he sends forth his breath, it returns into the
Ayr, and he casts Water aloft, as Dolphins and Whales do.
“THE CIRCHOS.
“There is also another Monster like to that, called _Circhos_, which
hath a crusty and soft Skin, partly black, partly red, and hath two
cloven places in his Foot, that serve for to make three Toes. The right
foot of this Animal is very small, but the left is great and long; and,
therefore, when he walks all his body leans on the left side, and he
draws his right foot after him: When the Ayr is calm he walketh, but
when the Wind is high, and the Sky cloudy, he applies himself to the
Rocks, and rests unmoved, and sticks fast, that he can scarce be pulled
off. The nature of this is wonderful enough: which in calm Weather is
sound, and in stormy Weather is sick.”
[Illustration]
The Northern Naturalists did not enjoy the monopoly of curious fish,
for Zahn gives us a very graphic picture of the different sides of two
small fish captured in Denmark and Norway (_i.e._, presumably in some
northern region) with curious letters marked on them. He does not
attempt to elucidate the writing; and as it is of no known language, we
may charitably put it down to the original “Volapük.” He also favours us
with the effigies of a curious fish found in Silesia in 1609, also
ornamented with an inscription in an unknown tongue.
[Illustration]
He also supplies us with the portrait of a pike, which was daintily
marked with a cross on its side and a star on its forehead.
But too much space would be taken up if I were to recount all the
piscine marvels that he relates.
Aristotle mentions that fish do not thrive in cold weather, and he says
that those which have a stone in their head, as the chromis, labrax,
sciæna, and phagrus, suffer most in the winter; for the refrigeration of
the stone causes them to freeze, and be driven on shore.
Sir John Mandeville, speaking of the kingdom of Talonach, says:--“And
that land hath a marvayle that is in no other land, for all maner of
fyshes of the sea cometh there once a yeare, one after the other, and
lyeth him neere the lande, sometime on the lande, and so lye three
dayes, and men of that lande come thither and take of them what he will,
and then goe these fyshes awaye, and another sort commeth, and lyeth
also three dayes and men take of them, and do thus all maner of fyshes
tyll all have been there, and menne have taken what they wyll. And men
wot not the cause why it is so. But they of that Countrey saye, that
those fyshes come so thyther to do worship to theyr king, for they say
he is the most worthiest king of the worlde, for he hath so many wives,
and geateth so many children of them.” (See next page.)
[Illustration]
I know of no other fish of such an accomodating nature, except it be
those of whom Ser Marco Polo speaks, when writing of Armenia:--“There is
in this Country a certain Convent of Nuns called St. Leonard’s about
which I have to tell you a very wonderful circumstance. Near the church
in question there is a great lake at the foot of a mountain, and in this
lake are found no fish, great or small, throughout the year till Lent
come. On the first day of Lent they find in it the finest fish in the
world, and great store, too, thereof; and these continue to be found
till Easter Eve. After that they are found no more till Lent come round
again; and so ’tis every year. ’Tis really a passing great miracle!”
[Illustration]
Edward Webbe, “Master Gunner,” whose travels were printed in 1590,
informs us that in the “Land of Siria there is a River having great
store of fish like unto Samon-trouts, but no Jew can catch them, though
either Christian and Turk shall catch them in abundance, with great
ease.”
Pliny has some curious natural phenomena to tell us about, of showers of
Milk, Blood, Flesh, Iron, and Wool; nay, he even says that, the year of
this woolly shower, when Titus Annius Milo was pleading his own cause,
there fell a shower of baked tiles!
[Illustration]
After this we can swallow Olaus Magnus’s story of a rain of fishes very
comfortably, especially as he supplements it with showers of frogs and
worms.
He gives a curious story of the black river at the New Fort in
Finland:--“There is a Fort in the utmost parts of _Finland_ that is
under the Pole, and it belongs to the Kingdom of _Sweden_, and it is
called the New-Fort, because it was wonderfull cunningly built, and
fortified by Nature and Art; for it is placed on a round Mountain,
having but one entrance and outlet toward the West; and that by a ship
that is tyed with great Iron Chains, which by strong labour and benefit
of Wheels, by reason of the force of the Waters, is drawn to one part
of the River by night, by keepers appointed by the King of _Sweden_, or
such as farm it. A vast river runs by this Castle, whose depth cannot be
found; it ariseth from the White Lake, and falls down by degrees: at the
bottome it is black, especially round this Castle, where it breeds and
holds none but black Fish, but of no ill taste, as are Salmons, Trouts,
Perch, Pikes, and other soft Fish. It produceth also the Fish _Trebius_,
that is black in Summer, and white in Winter, who, as _Albertus_ saith,
grows lean in the Sea; but when he is a foot long, he is five fingers
fat: This, seasoned with Salt, will draw Gold out of the deepest waters
that it is fallen in, and make it flote from the bottome. At last, it
makes the black Lake passing by _Viburgum_, as _Nilus_ makes a black
River, where he dischargeth himself.
[Illustration]
“When the Image of a Harper, playing, as it were, upon his Harp, in the
middle of the Waters above them appears, it signifies some ill _Omen_,
that the Governor of the Fort, or Captain shall suddenly be slain, or
that the negligent and sleepy Watchman shall be thrown headlong from
the high walls, and die by Martial Law. Also this water is never free
from Ghosts and Visions that appear at all times; and a man may hear
Pipes sound, and Cymbals tinkle, to the shore.”
Aristotle mentions a fish called the Meryx that chewed the cud, and
Pliny speaks of the Scarus, which, he says, “at the present day is the
only fish that is said to ruminate, and feed on grass, and not on other
fish.” But he seems to have forgotten that in a previous place in the
same book, he speaks of a large peninsula in the Red Sea, on the
southern coast of Arabia, called Cadara, where “the sea monsters, just
like so many cattle, were in the habit of coming on shore, and after
feeding on the roots of shrubs, they would return; some of them, which
had the heads of horses, asses, and bulls, found a pasture in the crops
of grain.”
THE REMORA.
Of this fish Pliny writes:--“There is a very small fish that is in the
habit of living among the rocks, and is known as the Echeneis, Ἀπὸ τοῦ
ἔχειν νῆας. (_From holding back ships._) It is believed that when this
has attached itself to the keel of a ship, its progress is impeded, and
that it is from this circumstance that it takes its name. For this
reason, also, it has a disgraceful repute, as being employed in love
philtres, and for the purpose of retarding judgments and legal
proceedings.... It is never used, however, for food.... Mucianus speaks
of a Murex of larger size than the purple, with a head that is neither
rough nor round; and the shell of which is single, and falls in folds on
either side. He tells us, also, that some of these creatures once
attached themselves to a ship freighted with children of noble birth,
who were being sent by Periander for the purpose of being castrated, and
that they stopped its course in full sail; and he further says, that the
shell-fish which did this service are duly honoured in the temple of
Venus, at Cnidos. Trebius Niger says that this fish is a foot in length,
and five fingers in thickness, and that it can retard the course of
vessels; besides which, it has another peculiar property--when preserved
in salt, and applied, it is able to draw up gold which has fallen into a
well, however deep it may happen to be.”
“But, _Clio_, wherefore art thou tedious
In numbering _Neptune’s_ busie burgers thus?
If in his works thou wilt admire the worth
Of the Sea’s Soverain, bring but only forth
One little _Fish_, whose admirable story
Sufficeth sole to shewe his might and glory.
Let all the Windes, in one Winde gather them,
And (seconded with _Neptune’s_ strongest stream)
Let all at once blowe all the stiffest gales
Astern a Galley under all her sails;
Let her be holpen with a hundred Owers,
Each lively handled by five lusty Rowers;
The _Remora_, fixing her feeble horn
Into the tempest beaten Vessel’s Stern,
Stayes her stone still, while all her stout Consorts
Saile thence, at pleasure, to their wished Ports,
Then loose they all the sheats, but to no boot:
For the charm’d Vessell bougeth not a foot;
No more than if, three fadom under ground,
A score of Anchors held her fastly bound:
No more than doth the Oak, that in the Wood,
Hath thousand Tempests, (thousand times) withstood;
Spreading as many massy roots belowe,
As mighty arms above the ground do growe.”
THE DOG-FISH AND RAY.
[Illustration]
Olaus Magnus writes of “The cruelty of some Fish, and the kindness of
others. There is a fish of the kind of Sea-Dogfish, called _Boloma_, in
_Italian_, and in _Norway_, _Haafisck_, that will set upon a man
swimming in the Salt-Waters, so greedily, in Troops, unawares, that he
will sink a man to the bottome, not only by his biting, but also by his
weight; and he will eat his more tender parts, as his nostrils, fingers,
&c., until such time as the Ray come to revenge these injuries; which
runs thorow the Waters armed with her natural fins, and with some
violence drives away these fish that set upon the drown’d man, and doth
what he can to urge him to swim out. And he also keeps the man, until
such time as his spirit being quite gone; and after some days, as the
Sea naturally purgeth itself, he is cast up. This miserable spectacle is
seen on the Coasts of _Norway_ when men go to wash themselves, namely,
strangers and Marriners that are ignorant of the dangers, leap out of
their ships into the sea. For these Dogfish, or _Boloma_, lie hid under
the ships riding at Anchor as Water Rams, that they may catch men, their
malicious natures stirring them to it.”
THE SEA DRAGON.
[Illustration]
Of the Ray tribe of fishes, the Sea Dragon is the most
frightful-looking, but we know next to nothing about it. Pliny only
cursorily mentions it thus:--“The Sea Dragon again, if caught, and
thrown on the sand, works out a hole for itself with its muzzle, with
the most wonderful celerity.” Olaus Magnus simply copies Pliny almost
word for word. Gesner, from whom I have taken this illustration, merely
classes it among the Rays, and gives no further information about it;
neither does Aldrovandus, from whom I have taken another picture.
THE STING RAY.
Pliny mentions the Sting Ray, and ascribes to it marvellous powers,
which it does not possess:--“There is nothing more to be dreaded than
the sting which protrudes from the tail of the _Trygon_, by our people
known as the _Pastinaca_, a weapon five inches in length. Fixing this in
the root of a tree, the fish is able to kill it; it can pierce armour,
too, just as though with an arrow, and to the strength of iron it adds
all the corrosive qualities of poison.”
[Illustration]
SENSES OF FISHES.
He also tells us about the senses of fishes, and first of their
hearing:--“Among the marine animals, it is not probable that Oysters
enjoy the sense of hearing, but it is said that immediately a noise is
made, the Solen (_razor-sheath_) will sink to the bottom; it is for this
reason, too, that silence is observed by persons while fishing at sea.
Fishes have neither organs of hearing, nor yet the exterior orifice. And
yet it is quite certain that they do hear, for it is a well-known fact,
that in some fish-ponds they are in the habit of being assembled to be
fed by the clapping of the hands. In the fish-ponds, too, that belong to
the Emperor, the fish are in the habit of coming, each kind, as it hears
its name. So, too, it is said the Mullet, the Wolf-fish, the Salpa, and
the Chromis, have a very exquisite sense of hearing, and that it is for
this reason that they frequent shallow water.
“It is quite manifest that fishes have the sense of smell also; for they
are not all to be taken with the same bait, and are seen to smell at it
before they seize it. Some, too, that are concealed in the bottom of
holes are driven out by the fishermen, by the aid of the smell of salted
fish; with this he rubs the entrance of their retreat in the rock,
immediately upon which they take to flight from the spot, just as though
they had recognized the dead carcases of those of their kind. Then,
again, they will rise to the surface at the smell of certain odours,
such, for instance, as roasted sepia and polypus; and hence it is that
these baits are placed in the osier-kipes used for taking fish. They
immediately take to flight upon smelling the bilge-water in a ship’s
hold, and more especially upon scenting the blood of fish.
“The Polypus cannot possibly be torn away from the rock to which it
clings; but upon the herb _cunila_ being applied, the instant it smells
it, the fish quits its hold.... All animals have the sense of touch,
those even which have no other sense; for even in the oyster, and, among
land animals, in the worm, this sense is found. I am strongly inclined
to believe, too, that the sense of taste exists in all animals; for why
else should one seek one kind of food, and one another?”
ZOOPHYTES.