Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-07-17

saret and saw two ships standing by
the lake but the fishermen were gone
out of them, and were washing their
nets.
and" says Luke, he entered into
one of the ships which was Simon's and
prayed him that he thrust out little
from the land. And he sat down and
taught the people out of the ship"
Verse four, in the fifth chapter of
Luke continues: Nov when he had
left speaking, he said unto Simon.
Launch out into the deep and let down
your nets for draught The sort
of nets employed by Simon. Peter.
James and John previous to the time
when "they foresook land followed
him to catch men henceforth' is still
in use at Lake Gennesaret. There are
nets "spread upon the waters" (Isaiah.
xxx, 81, but there are also fishermen
"that cast angles into the water"
When speaking to one of the natives
on the economical aspects Of the coun-
try, he drew the correspondence atten.
ton to Mark j., 20-"and they left
their father Zebedee in the ship with
the hired servants, etc. :" "Our fore
fathers were better to do than we are, y
said the old man. "None of us can
afford to keep servants. F"
Flavius Josephus. in his " History
of the Jewish Wars" says "The
Lake Gennesaret contains peculiar
specimens of fish. which differ in taste
and form from those of other waters. "
One of the species by him referred to
is the chromis. popularity known in
this neighborhood as the "apostle
fish,. The legend has it that Simon s
bark became loaded with them when
the Lord commanded him to throw
out his nets. In single draught of
the net The World correspondent
landed many species of the genus
chromis An English tourist in the
party recognized one as Chromis
Simonis, another as Chromis Andreae,
fourth as Chromis Tiberiadis, etc.,
according to the classification of the
British Museum.
Chromis Simonis is very much like
the modern carp with its sides stove
in. It is about eight inches long. with
greenish- brown back, the belly glitter
ing in blush silver. The fins are very
sharp and the belly fins situated i'm
mediately behind the breast fins. Sew
eral hundred Chromis Tiberiadis were
also caught. This fish is twice as big
as the other, and has coat of silver
green; it's tail is reddish with green
spots. The Tiberiadis prefers still
water and swampy bottom, which
probably explains it's presence in such
large numbers in Lake Gennesaret.
1t is served to travellers in Jerusalem
and in Safed in winter time. The
natives send it as far as Nazareth in
cold weather.
If the Tiberiadis happens to venture
into the Jordan it is worse than if he
is caught in net. The current will
carry him to the Dead Sea. and arriv-
ing there, the fish at once turn on their
backs and die. The bodies of tens of
thousands of them are daily thrown up
ON the sand banks at the mouth Of the
Jordan, where they fall prey to
birds.
Perhaps Ezekial referred to this fact
when he said in chapter xxx, 5:
"And I will leave thee thrown into
the wilderness. thee and all the fish of
thy rivers; thou shalt fall upon the
open fields; thou shalt not be brought
together. nor gathered. have given
thee for meat to the beasts Of the field
and to the fowls of the heaven.
Some of the Chromis Simonis caught
were without eyes. The natives ex-
planned that the blind Chromis are the
victims of sea hawks. When these
birds have eaten their fill. they begin
to look ont for tidbits. After catching
fish they strike it's forehead with
their sharp beaks, knocking out the
middle part. in which the eyes are
set; the eyes are then eaten by the
birds with great relish. Many of the
fish. having been dropped into the lake,
survive their rough treatment, but they
are forever blind.
Hemichromis Sacra is another apostle
fish in Lake Gennesaret. The species
is peculiar to the waters of western and
central Africa. and its presence in the
lake is quite extraordinary. This fish
is about foot long, has brown back,
a silvery belly and yellowish green
fins.
A very pretty fish. too, is the Cap
oeta, which grow to be foot and
a'half long. Its head is dark green, its
back silvery green, its belly yellow.
Along the sides run deep pink lines.
The back, tail and breast fins are
green, the Others yellow. This fish is
native of Asia. and it is mystery
how it became an inhabitant of Lake
Gennesaret.
A very remarkable fish is the Clarias
Macracanthus. 1t is from Q to 80
feet long. the head being one third of
the length of the body. The mouth is
very capacious. When caught the
Clarias acts in the net like serpent,
winding itself and jumping about. A
fisherman took one of the captives and
threw it hard upon the shore. where
upon it began to new like an enraged