~ 
=) 
impossible except in the case of fish whose nature leads 
them to resort to the shore for spawning purposes or for 
food. 
This immensity and the impervious conditions of the 
element in which fish live, throw such obscurity over their 
mysterious life that it is not possible to pronounce an 
opinion upon this question, except so far as we are in a 
position to do so from observations made from the coast 
and its surrounding waters, and even then the comparisons 
must extend over long periods of time. It is well known 
that both on land and sea many species of animals have 
entirely disappeared, and their fossil remains alone come 
down to confirm historical references. But without going 
back to such early times, we may refer to the great 
diminution in the number of whales within the present 
century, a diminution probably more owing to the voracity 
of other aquatic animals than to overfishing by man. 
We can also cite the diminution of the smaller species in 
proof of our assertion, the tunny, for example, as referred to 
by ancient historians. Strabo and Pliny both call attention 
to the enormous quantities of this fish caught by the 
Phceenicians, and the arm of the sea near Constantinople 
owes its designation of the Golden Horn to the immense 
wealth which the Byzantines drew up from it in the shape 
of tunnies, and lastly, Caio Plinio mentions the fact of the 
fleet of Charles the Great encountering a shoal of tunnies 
which altogether impeded his progress. In much later 
times the reports of the erudite Father Sarmiento give 
particulars as to this fishery, from which we can judge of 
its decline ; the reports showing much greater quantities 
than those now obtained. 
The tunny is a migratory fish living in the deep sea, and 
returning every year to the eastern parts of the Mediterra- 
