28
FISH-HOOKS OF WOOD FROM FRANCE.
never allow yourselves to be satisfied even in your ideal. Never
lose sense of the imperfection of human knowledge and especially
of your own. Never allow the sense of what has been known,
great and wonderful as that is, to dim the higher sense of how
little we know as yet, how much there is to know.
FISH-HOOKS OR GORGES OF WOOD FROM
FRANCE (SIMILAR TO THOSE FROM
ESSEX).
By EDWARD LOVETT.
[Read January 26th, 1901.]
In the Essex Naturalist for April, 1898 (vol. x., pages
300-305) I described and figured some primitive fish-hooks of
wood still in use on a part of the coast of Essex. At that time
I had heard that similar hooks were used in some parts of
France and Russia (and probably elsewhere). For some time I
made every possible enquiry as to these, but without success.
At length, however, I was fortunate in hearing that M.
Francois Daleau, of Bourg-sur-Gironde, France, could assist me,
and I at once wrote to this gentleman. His reply was indeed a
surprise, for it was to the effect that on the Gironde fish-hooks
of wood were used, not only like the Essex form, but actually
made of the same wood, the White-thorn.
I sent him a line of our Essex thorn hooks, with a copy of
the Essex Naturalist containing my paper, and he very kindly
gave me a series of similar hooks from his locality, together with
a copy of his most interesting pamphlet, extracts from which I
have reprinted below.
It will be seen from his paper that the "survival" of the
primaeval fishermen is almost exactly alike on the Essex coast,
and on the banks of the Gironde, but at the latter place we find
the true gorge which again was evidently known in Essex, as
will be seen from my correspondence with "Tom" recorded
below
This true gorge is most interesting as regards its distribu-
tion, for I have stone examples of it from Hudson's Bay; bone
specimens from Alaska (for catching sea-birds); and turtle-shell
forms of the same thing from Santa Cruz, for taking Flying-fish.