But when thy daring Sons the Wave explore,
The Ocean yields her [1] unexhauſted Store:
Thy open Harbours all her Gifts divide,
And Seas of Wealth roll in with ev'ry Tide:
The Golden Shoals thy very Nets purſue,
Laugh at the leſſer Treaſures of Peru;
Prompt thee to change the meanneſs of thy State,
Bids thee, when e're thou wilt, be rich and great.
Tell us ye Sons of Myſt'ry, from what Hand,
What [2] ſecret High Command
Gives out the Word that's heard to Natures Deep,
Where all the Scaly Tribes their Councils keep?
Who tells them when the very Month arrives?
And who the ſecret Order gives?
When from the Womb of Wonders far by-North,
The mighty Slymy Hoſts come forth;
The num'rous Legions ſpread the Sea,
The wondring frighted Waves give way;
Forward the Mighty moving Hoſts puſh on,
- ↑ Not our Experience only allows the Store to be unexhausted, in that the Quantity is every Year renewed; but Authors tell us that even in their daily Fishing in one and the same place, when great Quantities are taken up, yet those that remain, and may immediately be taken in the same place, seem not to be lessened. Minorum ad littora piscium tanta benignita|te Dei Opt. Max. praeventus est, & quo major frumenti Caritas est, eo etiam uberior; ut cum uno quovis die ingentem vim abstuleris, postridie illius Diei non minor codem in loco appareat. Hect. Boeth. Scot. Reg. Discriptio. p 8.
- ↑ Secret high Command. The wonderful Original and Causes of the Prodi|gious Quantity of Herring which appear in their exact Seasons. Places and Quantities upon all the Coasts of Scotland is the Occasion of this Digres|sion.
