l of them may have been
joined together, and a considerable space may then have been enclosed,
within which the game may have been driven by the beaters. The ease of
these three weak and tinnier animals, the gazelle, the hare, and the
partridge, was not regarded as worthy of the monarch. When the king is
represented as present, he takes no part in it, but merely drives in his
chariot through the woods where the sportsmen are amusing themselves.
Persons, however, of a good position, as appears from their dress and
the number of their attendants, indulged in the sport, more especially
eunuchs, who were probably those of the royal household. It is not
unlikely that the special object was to supply the royal table with
game.

[Illustration: PLATE 125]

The Assyrians do not seem to have had much skill as fishermen. They
were unacquainted with the rod, and fished by means of a simple line
thrown into the water, one end of which was held in the hand. [PLATE
CXXV., Figs. 1, 2.] No float was used, and the bait must consequently
have sunk to the bottom, unless prevented from so doing by the force of
the stream. This method of fishing was likewise known and practised in
Egypt, where, however, it was far more common to angle with a rod.
Though Assyrian fish-hooks have not been found, there can be no doubt
that that invention was one with which they were acquainted, as were
both the Egyptians and the early Chaldaeans.

Fishing was carried on both in rivers and in stews or ponds. The angler
sometimes stood or squatted upon the bank; at other times, not content
with commanding the mere edge of the water, he plunged in, and is seen
mid-stream, astride upon an inflated skin, quietly pursuing his
avocation. [PLATE CXXVI., Fig. 1.] Occasionally he improved his position
by amounting upon a raft, and, seated at the stern, with his back to the
rower, threw out his line and drew the fish from the water. Now and then
the fisherman was provided with a plaited basket, made of rushes or
flags, which was fastened round his neck with a string, and hung at his
back, ready to receive the produce of his exertions.

[Illustration: PLATE 126]

It does not appear that angling was practised by the Assyrians the way
that the monuments show it to have been practised in Egypt, as an
amusement of the rich. The fishermen are always poorly clothed, and seem
to have belonged to the class which worked for its living. It is
remarkable that do not anywhere in