It is probable that, in this manner of fishing, the Indian draws near the thunny while asleep,[[1454]] as we find to have been often the practice among the Greek fishermen, who when they went forth at night, at which time the thunny is exceedingly drowsy, were attracted towards their prey by the white belly of the fish sleeping quietly on the surface of the water. Many other kinds of fish also appear to have been taken while asleep, notwithstanding that in general their slumbers are brief. Thus flat-fish, nestling in the sand or mud, were discovered through the transparent water, and pierced with the trident. So likewise the sea-dog, the gilthead, and the mullet, were taken by day, with the trident, while asleep; otherwise it has been thought they could scarcely be touched by this instrument. The skate and other fishes of the Selachian tribe were sometimes found to sleep so soundly, that they could be taken by the hand.[[1455]]
On the shores of the Chelidonian isles there was a celebrated anthias fishery which was carried on in a peculiar manner. The fishermen putting to sea in their bark, and clad in garments of a sober colour, sailed backward and forward daily in the same place and at the same hour. By this means, the anthias, which in great numbers frequents that part of the sea, became accustomed to the sight of the vessel, and by degrees approached it, one of the shoal generally preceding the rest. To him the fishermen threw out something of which the anthias is fond, and continued to do so until the fish became so tame that they would eat food from his hand. A hook was then introduced into the bait, and as the fish crowded around the bark in prodigious multitudes, they were caught rapidly, and handed to a second person, who threw them into the bottom of the boat upon heaps of soft rags, lest by their bounding and struggling they should make a noise and frighten away their companions. The shadow of the boat assisted in concealing this manœuvre from the fish. It was considered necessary to spare the anthias which first approached, since, being probably a kind of leader, his disappearance instantly put all the rest to flight.[[1456]] Sometimes it is said multitudes of these fish were collected round the boat by the striking of two bits of wood together in the manner of castanets.[[1457]] The Milesians[[1458]] possessed close to their city a very lucrative fishery chiefly of the sea-dog,[[1459]] which there attained a larger size than anywhere else. This is supposed to have been owing to an extensive lagoon of fresh water, having however with the sea a channel of communication through which these fish found their way in, where they grew tame and fat, and were taken in great numbers.[[1460]]
At a point on the gulf of Smyrna, a productive fishery is at present carried on in a very ingenious manner. The shore being low and level, a continuous sweep of reed-fences is stretched along, so as to enclose a considerable space of water, and furnished at intervals with gates, which are raised occasionally for letting in the shoals. The avenues are then closed, and the fish taken with facility. On the coast of China a similar fishery is found, lines of mats being substituted for reeds.[[1461]]
There was a small, but apparently productive, fishery in the canton of Marathon.[[1462]] The right of fishing in the salt stream of the Rheitæ was secured by law to the priests of Eleusis,[[1463]] whose city was famous for the scombros as well as for soles or turbots.[[1464]]
[1283]. The whole of the manufacture in India is by hand-spinning, consequently there is a greater tension, from the moisture which the hand gives them, than can be had from anything in the shape of machinery; a fine yarn can be produced by hand-spinning “from a short staple, which frame-spinning will not touch at all.” Report from the Lords, July 8, 1830, p. 316.
[1284]. Tavernier relates, “that the ambassador of Shah Sefi, on his return from India, presented his master with a cocoa-nut, set with jewels, containing a muslin turban, sixty covits, or thirty English yards, in length, so exquisitely fine, that it could scarcely be felt by the touch.” The Hindoos, vol. i. p. 188.
[1285]. Winkel. Hist. de l’Art. i. 498.
[1286]. Athen. xii. 23. Aristoph. Lysist. 48. Poll. vii. 76.
[1287]. To these an allusion is made in the following passage of Plato: ὥσπερ ἱμάτιον ποικίλον πᾶσιν ἄνθεσι πεποικιλμένον, οὕτω καὶ αὔτη πᾶσιν ἤθεσι πεποικιλμένη καλλίστη ἂν φαίνοιτο. De Repub. viii. t. vi. p. 401. Cf. Poll. iii. 34. Winkelmann, i. 500. Athen. ii. 30.