16 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Lusitanian language means " castle " or " fortified town," and from 

 " cete," i. e., " great fish" (tunny). 



Malaga also owes its wealth and its name to the tunny fisheries, fbr, 

 in the Punic language, " Malach" means both "to salt," and the "salt- 

 ing place." Several other Spanish towns contended for the fame of 

 bringing the best articles into market. Gades (Cadiz) gained the 

 prize. The favorite parts for salting were the gristly portions of the 

 head ; but many portions of the body were also used for this purpose. 

 According to Galenus this fish was preferred in the salted state, because 

 it then seemed less hard and easier to be digested. 



One of the most important fisheries in those times was a tunny-fish- 

 ery, which, during the Grecian period, brought great wealth to the 

 Carian and the Milesian colonies on the Black Sea. When these fish 

 in their periodical migrations came out of the sea of Azof, (Palus Mceotis,) 

 they followed the coast of Asia, and many were caught in nets near 

 Trapezon. Thence tbey went in company with other kinds of mackerel 

 to Sinope, whose inhabitants, according to Strabo, grew immensely 

 wealthy through this fishery. Amastris, Tejum, and Heraclea, located 

 on the same coast, likewise reaped a rich harvest. If we may believe 

 the author of " Storia philosophica e politica delle colonie degli antichi 

 nel mar ISTegro," the best harbors were Sinope and Galidon, on the 

 river Halys, near whose mouth great salting establishments were lo- 

 cated. 



Notwithstanding the enormous quantities of tunny caught on the 

 coast of Thrace, the salt-fish from Sardinia were the most famous, 

 and those of the best quality were called Sardinians. 



The fish known in France by the name of " auriolf (in Spanish " cav- 

 allay" 1 ) is another kind of mackerel, great numbers of which were salted 

 by the Greeks. Athenoeus praises it in the most eloquent manner, and 

 its fame increased still more after the Eomans had conquered Spain, 

 and had learned how to extract from its entrails the far-famed u garum 

 sociorum," a fish sauce which was greatly prized. Although several 

 ancient authors have written the most glowing encomiums ou this secret 

 preparation, (for it seems to have enjoyed then as great a reputation 

 as the English fish-sauce in our times,) it is impossible to discover 

 what this ' garum sociorum ' really was. Pliny, the encyclopedist of the 

 ancients, says that this fluid matter was an extract from the entrails of 

 certain fish that had undergone the process of fermentation. " The 

 Greeks," he says, "in former times, prepared 'garum' from the fish 

 called by that name ; the best ' garum ' comes now from Carthage, in 

 Spain, (Carthagena,) and is called ' garum sociorum.' You can scarcely 

 buy two boxes (each containing about ten pounds) for a thousand 

 pieces of money. No fluid, except scented waters, sells for so high a 

 price, and it is in great demand by all classes of society. The fisher- 

 men of Mauritania, Betiea, and Carteja, prepare it from mackerel, fresh 



