214 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



but a little out of the way. Then there is the leaping 

 tuna, who, when he is at all, is the "tuna of arrival," 

 and of mighty size, ranging upward to half a ton in 

 weight. 



All these three tunas doubtless breed or spawn in 

 the deep Santa Catalina Channel, Cahfornia; and all 

 have the same name — Thunnus — with certain specific 

 differences. Thus, the tuna with the very long side 

 fins is T. alalonga; the giant tuna, T. thynnus; and 

 the one with golden or lemon-tinted fins is T. macu- 

 latus; big names, it must be conceded, but then they 

 are given to big fishes which rank at the top of the 

 list of the great game fishes of the world, on whose 

 arms are emblazoned the wuiged victories, and whose 

 crest is a fish rampant. 



The "tunas of arrival" or of "return" are in a 

 sense the masters of the sea. Big, powerful, rapacious, 

 they owe allegiance to none except the sharks; and the 

 latter capture them only when great schools are massed, 

 and the white man-eater or the bonito-slayer charges 

 into them blindly or catches one in the toils on a line. 

 As the tuna and its movements are one of the mys- 

 teries of the Balearic Isles, Messina, and the waters 

 in the shadow of the Maritime Alps, so the sojourners 

 of the Pacific or California islands are an enigma to 

 the oldest hahitue of the deep blue waters. 



In July, 1907, the "tuna of arrival" was reported 

 in the Santa Catalina Channel some miles east of the 

 Cortez Bank and ten or twelve miles offshore. It was 

 made up of a vast school of yellow-fins ranging in size 

 from thirty to seventy or more pounds, which tinted 

 the water a golden hue. They were headed north, 

 and covered an area of several hundred acres. Where 



