BONITOES AND TUNNIES. 219 



Let due porportion every part commend, 



Nor leanness shrink too much, nor fat distend.* 



And more perfect figures than theirs poetry could not describe, nor the 

 classic chisel of Greece portray ; every man was an Academy model; to 

 perfect symmetry of limb were added dark flashing eyes, jet black hair, 

 beard, and moustache ; irreproachable noses, ivory teeth, and the rich- 

 colored complexion of the South. What a contrast to a body of 

 sandy-haired, freckled, hard-featured, stockingless Highlanders, landing 

 from a Scotch steamboat, and challenging, by their self-satisfied air, atten- 

 tion to an ungainly gait and knock-kneed deformity of person ! 



Presently a simultaneous shout proclaimed, 'La pipa ! la pipa!' — our 

 own boatmen, after repeating the cry, informed us that a sword-fish, or 

 pipa, as the Palermo sailors designate it, had been seen to enter the decoy 

 with the thunny, and must now be in the net, as the flooring had been 

 drawn up several fathoms, the pipa presently swam towards the surface, to 

 see what was the matter, and some well-practised eyes having caught a 

 first glimpse of him, the crews testified their delight by three loud vocifera- 

 tions. Frightened by the noise and the confused scene above, the long 

 form of the fish might soon be distinguished, shooting now here, now 

 there, athwart the hempen court; he rose at last, in much agitation, to 

 the top, but instantly dived down again, scattering the spray far and wide 

 with a lash of his powerful tail. This plunge only carried him among the 

 trembling thunnies, pelamyds, and alalongas, which covered the bottom 

 of the net; the-n up he came again, to find every eye looking fishy, and 

 every hand ready to deal the fatal blow. Like a startled horse in a high- 

 fenced paddock, the sword-fish now careered round and round the 

 enclosure, vainly seeking an exit by which to bolt, but finding none, he 

 backed a moment, then, swifter than thought, rushed on the net, ran his 

 long weapon through, and made a large hole in the meshes ; but becoming 

 hopelessly entangled, his fate was sealed, and death followed fast ; one 

 lusty arm throws a heavy harpoon, and misses ; another with more steady 

 aim, and a lighter missile, hits and wounds the fish, who, staggered at the 

 blow, flounders from side to side, while the clear blue waves are stained 

 all round with his blood ; in a few seconds a dozen barbed poles lie deep 

 in the poor pipa's flank, and after throwing up a whirlpool of discolored 

 water, as the blows of the fishermen rain faster and faster upon their 

 victim, the crimson of the flood deepens, and in less than a minute from 

 the first wound the gashed carcass of the great scomber is poised up safely 

 into the boat, with a triumphant shout. ' Five scudi, my lads, for our 

 share!' exclaims one of the excited mariners, as they lay him at last at 

 the bottom : and ' Bless the Virgin and St. Anthony,' says another, ' there 

 is not much damage done this time to the net.' ' Now, signor, we shall 

 presently see the thunny,' cried out our barcaroles; and accordingly, as 



* Oppian, J. Jones's translation. 



