In the fresh water wuz all kinds of fishes from all parts of the country, and the world. Salmons, muskalunges, the great Mississippi cat-fish, alligators, trout, white-fish, sun-fishes, etc., and etcetry.
In the salt water wuz sharks, torpedoes, dog-fishes, goose-fishes, sheeps heads, blue-fishes, weak-fish, and strong ones, too, I should think--why, more"n I could name if I should talk all day.
[Ill.u.s.tration: In the salt water wuz sharks, torpedoes, dog fishes, goose-fishes, weak-fish, and strong ones, too, I should think.]
Why, I shouldn"t a been surprised a mite if I had seen a-floatin" up to me that old Leviathan of Job"s that "couldn"t be pulled out with a hook, or his nose with a cord that wuz let down."
Why, I wouldn"t a been surprised at nothin"--I felt a good deal of the time jest like that in all of the buildin"s, and I said so to my Josiah when he"d try to surprise me by lookin" at some strange thing. "No, Josiah," I would say, "I can"t be surprised no more, the time for that has gone by--gone by, a long time ago."
And then there wuz gobys, sticklebacks, sea-horses, devil-fishes, and I believe there wuz a jell fish, though I didn"t see it.
Though so fur as jell goes, as I told Josiah, I would ruther make my own jell out of my own berries and crab-apples, and then I know how it"s made.
But, howsumever, there wuz all the fishes that ever swum in America, Mexico, South America, Europe, and Asia, and I d"no but what there wuz a few from Africa. And to see on the bottom of them aquarums sh.e.l.ls a-walkin" round, with the owners of them sh.e.l.ls inside of "em, wuz a sight to see.
Why, any one here would have 60 or 70 emotions a minute right along--a-seein" these, and a-meditatin" on the wonders of the deep.
And then there wuz the rainbow fish, which is found both on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts--it has all the colors the rainbow ever had, and more too.
And then to see our own magnificent water-lilies a-floatin" on top of the water, and then to see "em down under the water, with fishes a-floatin" all amongst "em--oh, what a sight! what a sight it wuz!
Outside of the buildin", when at last we did tear ourselves away from that seen of enchantment, and went outside, I upheld by my motive to see everything I could, and Josiah by the idee that we would step into a restaurant that wuzn"t fur away.
When outside we see a lot of ponds all ill.u.s.tratin" the best way of pond culture, and all sorts of aquatic plants.
Wall, at Josiah"s request, we went to the nighest place and had a cup of tea and a good little lunch.
And then we went back to see the fish-hooks and things that is in the west buildin" of the group.
Josiah said mebby he could git his eye on some new kind of a fish-hook.
He said he"d love to go beyend Deacon Henzy and Sime Yerden if he could--they boasted so over their tackle.
And truly I should have thought he might have gone ahead of anything, or anybody, if he could have carried "em home. There wuz everything that could be thought on, or that ever wuz seen in the form of fishin"
apparatus--every kind of hook, and spear, and rod, and queer-lookin"
baskets and pots, and tackle to catch eels and lobsters, and then there wuz models of fishin" boats and vessels, and everything else under the sun that any fisherman ever sot eyes on, from Josiah back to the Postles, and from the Postles down to any fishin" club in 1893.
Why, if you"ll believe it--and I d"no as I would blame you if you wouldn"t, it bein" a fish story, as it were--but we did see some fish-hooks from Pompeii that had been buried 2000 years, and come out fish-hooks after all--a good deal like them Josiah uses in Jonesville creek.
And speakin" of old things, we see some fishes that day--the oldest in the world; they come from Colorado--dug out of the rocks of ages ago; they wuz covered with bone instead of scales, which showed that they had had a pretty hard time on"t.
[Ill.u.s.tration: They wuz covered with bone instead of scales.]
And then there wuz a big collection of nets made by the Indians from seal sinew, seal-skin braided, roots of willow tree, and whalebone.
Of these last it took four men three weeks to make one, and two of these wuz gin in exchange for a jug of mola.s.ses to make rum with.
A shame and a disgrace! No savage would have cheated so--no, it takes a white man to do that.
And we see artificial flies so nateral that a spider would go to weavin"
a net to catch it.
And artificial gra.s.shoppers, and crickets, and frogs, and little artificial minney fish made of metal, gla.s.s, pearl, and rubber. Why, if I had seen one of "em in the brook that runs through our paster, I should have been tempted to have bent a pin, and take some weltin" cord out of my pocket and go to fishin" for it.
And if they fooled me, who am often called very wise, what would you think of their foolin" a fish, who hain"t got any b.u.mp of wisdom on their heads?
And then there wuz trollin" spoons of all kinds and shapes, in all kinds of metal, and trollin" squids--I"d never hearn of that name before--squid! but they had "em of all kinds; and tackle boxes, and floats, and landin" nets, and gaff hooks; there is sunthin" else I never hearn on--gaff hooks! and snells, and gimps, and spinners.
Why, I"d never hearn on "em, and Josiah hadn"t either, though he acted dretful knowin", and put on a face of extreme enjoyment and appreciation. And he sez, "How a man duz enjoy seein" such things that he"s ust to and knows all about!"
And I sez, "What do you do with squids, anyway, or gaffs, or snells?"
"Why," sez he, "I should snell with "em, and gaff, and squid. What do you spoze?"
"How do you do it?" sez I. "How do you snell?"
And then he had to own up that he didn"t know how it wuz done.
Truly it has been said that three questions will floor the biggest philosopher. But it only took two to take the pride and vainglory out of Josiah Allen.
Wall, the information gathered together here from all parts of the world, and disseminated out to individuals of the collected world, will probable make a great difference in the enjoyment and practical benefit of the fisherman, and tell hard on the fishes of 1894.
Wall, we stayed round here a-lookin" at "em different buildin"s till dark, and then we didn"t see a thousandth nor a millionth part of what wuz to be seen there.
And I hain"t half described its wonders and glories as I"d ort to, and one reason is, n.o.body can describe any of the buildin"s--no, not if they had the tongue of men and angels.
No, they are too stupendous to describe.
And then, agin, I have had a kind of a feelin" of delicacy that has kind of held me back--I have been hampered.
For I have kep such a tight grip holt of my principle all the while I"ve been describin" it, that it has weakened the grasp of my good right hand on my steel pen.
I knew well how hard, how almost impossible it wuz to talk about fishin"
for any length of time without lyin".
But I know I have told Josiah time and agin that it wuz possible to do it, if you kep a firm holt of the h.e.l.lum, and leaned heavy on principle.
I have done it, and I am proud and happy in the thought.
Unless, mebby, I have lied the other way. Good land! I didn"t think of that; I wuz so determined to keep within bounds, that I am actually afraid that I"ve lied that way; in order not to tell the fish story too big, I hain"t told it big enough.
Good land! I guess I won"t boast any more.
Wall, seein" that I am in sunthin" of a hurry, I will let it go, and mebby if I should go over it agin I should lie the other way.
Good land! good land! what a world this is, and with all your care and watchfulness, how hard it is to keep walkin" right along, in Injun file, along the narrer rope walk of megumness and exact truth.
But I am a-eppisodin", and to resoom.