THE COASTS OF SICILY. 253 



enclosure, a little black rowing boat manned by two 

 oarsmen contains the master-fisherman, from whom 

 emanate all orders, and who is ever at hand to 

 encourage and lead on the workmen, or to carry rein- 

 forcements from side to side, as they may be needed. 

 During all this time the capstans, which are fixed 

 at the extremities of the net, have never ceased 

 turning; and as the moving floor of the corpou 

 gradually rises, the tunnies begin to appear, and on 

 looking through the transparent water we see the fish 

 darting uneasily from one side to the other of the 

 vast enclosure in which they are imprisoned. Some 

 of them rise to the surface or even spring out of the 

 water ; but woe be to those who rise near one of the 

 boats, for no sooner does the fish appear than hands 

 of iron are stretched forth to bury their sharpened 

 points in its sides. Even though they may be 

 wounded, the fish generally escape from the first 

 attack ; for being full of life and strength, and in the 

 enjoyment of entire liberty of motion within the large 

 basin that encloses them, they tear themselves from 

 the hands of their enemies, leaving only a few bleed- 

 ing shreds of flesh attached to the hooks ; but still 

 the capstan turns remorselessly to the modulated 

 songs of the sailors, and the net rises higher and 

 higher. The master-fisherman is always at hand in 

 his little boat to drive the tunnies towards the edg^es of 

 the net : wounds are now dealt on every side ; and 

 soon some fish, more deeply struck than his com- 

 panions, slackens his course, showing from time to 

 time his broad silvery sides, along which the black 

 blood is streaming forth. At every new stroke his 



