97 



BONITO. 



Sconiber Pelamis, Linnaeus. 



Thynnus Pelamis, Cuvier. Jenyns ; Manual, p. 363. 



" " Yarrell; Br. Fishes, vol. i, p. 157. 



Sconibre Bonite, Lacepede. Risso. 



" GuNTHER; Catalogue Br. Museum, 



vol. ii, p. 364. 



This sj^ecies is one of those which was in ancient times 

 confounded with the Tunny, and for which therefore, fisheries 

 were established as for that fish. Difierent representations are 

 made as regards its excellency as food, and Risso pronounces 

 it good; but it is probable that it varies according to the 

 season. 



But pursued as it is by the arts of man, it is still more a 

 pursuer after those fishes it is able to overcome; the greater 

 portion of which are such as we suppose the most difficult to 

 be overtaken; but its swiftness, which we judge from its 

 structure to exceed even that of the Tunny, renders it fully 

 equal to the task. The Bonito therefore excites a larger amount 

 of interest from the accounts given us by sailors, who have 

 observed its actions in the wide expanse of ocean near and 

 within the tropics; where it is found in abundance, and is 

 often seen to spring aloft in pursuit of the flying fish; which 

 it has driven into the air as a last resource of safety. Some- 

 thing like this also not unfrequently occurs in summer on the 

 western coasts of England; where this fish and some others of 

 the same family are often seen in pursuit of the Saury or 

 Skopster; the chase of which presents an amusing spectacle 

 by its leaping into the air, in the vain hope of seizing those 

 which in that element at least are more than a match for its 



VOL. II. O 



