History of Holland > Holland history > Lodovico Guicciardini description of the Low Countries > Guicciardini book page 7-I

Guicciardini book page 7-I

(having first made the little Isle of Bomlerwert) joyne to gither againe, and so joyntly taking the name of Merwe the come to Dordrecht where (having made the lle of Iselmont) the Meuse refurneth his name, and with such a furie enrereth the Sea, that it maintaineth his course & keepeth his water fresh a great space, not without great comoditie and profit to the country,for by that meanes it openeth the waie to divers fishes, especiallie to sturgeons, the which findinge in the Sea this sweete water, and being beyond measure desirous thereof, enter so farre there into, that in the ende comming into the shallowe waters, they become a pray to those that lie in waight for them. The like effect worke also the rivers, of Pau, Tibre, Rosne, Garonne, and everie other River that entereth the Sea with a violent course But the Seine, Hebre, and the Thamis, entering gentlie into the Sea, some lose both their course and their fresh water, and therefore worke no such effect as the Meuse and the other Rivers above mentioned do.

The Sturgeous of Meuse are so great, that some of them waigh foure hundred, and some foure hundred and twenty pound, & are twelve foote longe, of Andwerp measure which is as much as six brasses of Florence.

The time that the Sturgeon is in season, beginneth in Aprill, and endureth more than three monethes these sturgeons are sent into divers Provin-

Guicciardini - description of the Low Countries (Holland and Belgium) - printed in the year 1593 - Next page 7-II -->