creature with lungs must be on the surface several times in a day-and the sea is an inconvenient breathing place; and hands are instruments of manufacture-and the depths of the ocean are little fitted for fabricating that mirror which our old prints gave to the mermaid. Such an animal, if created, could not long exist; and, with scarce any locomotive powers, would be the prey of other fishes formed in a manner more suited to their element. I have seen a most absurd fabrication of a mermaid exposed as a show in London, said to have been found in the Chinese seas, and bought for a large sum of money. The head and bust, of two different apes, were fastened to the lower part of a kipper salmon, which had the fleshy fin, and all the distinct characters, of the salmo salar.

ORN. And yet there were people who believed this to be a real animal.

HAL. It was insisted on to prove the truth of the Caithness story. But what is there which people will not believe?

POIET.-In listening to your conversations

we have forgotten our angling, and have lost some moments of fine cloudy weather.

HAL.-I thought you were tired of catching trouts and graylings, and I therefore did not urge you to continue your fly fishing; and this part of the river does not contain so many grayling as the pools above-but there are good trout, and it is possible there may be huchos. Let me recommend to you to put on minnow tackle-that tackle with the fine small hooks; and, as we have minnows and bleaks, you may perhaps hook trout, or even huchos; and in half an hour our fish dinner at the inn will be ready. I shall return there, to see that all is right, and shall expect you there when you have finished your fishing.

[They all meet in the dining-room of the inn.]

HAL.-Well, what sort of sport have you had since I left you?

POIET. We have each caught a trout and two large chubs, and have had two or

three runs besides-but we saw no huchos; and though several large grayling rose in one of the streams, and we tried to catch them by spinning the minnow in every possible way, yet they took no notice of our bait.

HAL. This is usually the case. I have heard of anglers who have taken grayling with minnows, but this is a rare occurrence, and never happened to me. Your dinner, I dare say, is now ready; and you know it is a dinner entirely of the genus salmo, with vegetables and fruit. You have hucho from the Traun, and char from Aussee, and trout from the Traun See, that were brought alive to the inn, and have only just been killed and crimped, and are now boiling in salt and water; and you have likewise grayling and laverets from the Traun See, which are equally fresh, and which will be fried.

PHYS.-I think, in this part of the continent, the art of carrying and keeping fish is better understood than in England. Every inn has a box containing grayling, trout, carp, or char, into which water from a spring

AUSTRIAN METHOD OF CONVEYING FISH. 251

runs; and no one thinks of carrying or sending dead fish for a dinner. A fish barrel full of cool water, which is replenished at every fresh source amongst these mountains, is carried on the shoulders of the fisherman. And the fish, when confined in wells, are fed with bullock's liver, cut into fine pieces, so that they are often in better season in the tank or stew than when they were taken. I have seen trout, grayling, and char even, feed voraciously, and take their food almost from the hand. These methods of carrying and preserving fish have, I believe, been adopted from the monastic establishments. At Admondt, in Styria, attached to the magnificent monastery of that name, are abundant ponds and reservoirs for every species of fresh water fish; and the char, grayling and trout are preserved in different waters-covered, enclosed, and under lock and key.

POIET.-I admire in this country not only the mode of preserving, carrying, and dressing fish, but I am delighted, generally, with the habits of life of the peasants, and with

their manners. It is a country in which I should like to live; the scenery is so beauti ful, the people so amiable and good-natured, and their attentions to strangers so marked by courtesy and disinterestedness.

PHYS. They appear to me very amiable and good; but all classes seem little instructed.

POIET. There are few philosophers amongst them, certainly; but they appear very happy, and

Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.

We have neither seen nor heard of any instances of crime since we have been here. They fear their God, love their sovereign, are obedient to the laws, and seem perfectly contented. I know you would contrast them with the active and educated peasantry of the manufacturing districts of England; but I believe they are much happier, and I am sure they are generally better.

PHYS. I doubt this: the sphere of enjoyment, as well as of benevolence, is enlarged by education.