GEN. THYNNTJS. THE TUNNY. 197 



Tunny ; those weighing a thousand pounds are not 

 rare, and Cotti asserts that old males are sometimes 

 taken which weigh 18cwt. From time immemo- 

 rial prodigious numbers have been recorded as fre- 

 quenting that inland sea. Thus Gyllius, " Twenty 

 vessels might be rilled by a single cast of the net : 

 and they may be taken without nets, and with the 

 hands. When they ascend to the port of Constan- 

 tinople in crowded troops, they may be killed with 

 stones. Women take them by simply suspending a 

 basket from their windows with a cord. In fine, 

 without baiting a hook, a sufficient quantity may 

 be taken to provision the whole of Greece, and a 

 great part of Europe and Asia." — " The Sea-fish of 

 Constantinople," says M. Von Hammer, " are the 

 first in the world, the Bosphorus swarms with 

 them." — " The flavour of the Tunny," says Mr. 

 Swainson, " has nearly as much resemblance to that 

 of flesh as to fish ; and to those who have tasted it, 

 we need not expatiate upon its excellence : when 

 fried in the form of cutlets, it has the strongest re- 

 semblance to veal, having the same compact firm- 

 ness, and the same delicate whiteness." Those of 

 Sardinia and Spain were considered by the Romans 

 as superior. When cured, they formed the Salta- 

 mentum Sardicum, a very savoury meat. For nu- 

 merous and interesting details concerning the habits 

 of these fish, their capture, preservation, &c. we 

 must refer to the pages of L'Hist. Nat. des Poisson, 

 and to Griffith's Cuvier, volume on Fishes. 



(Sp. 46.) Th. pelamys. The Striped Tunny, or 



