BONITO AND DORADO FISH. 25 



We harpooned several of them. The bonito, Scamber 

 pelamys, is a fish belonging to the order Acanthopterygi,- 

 and to the family of Scombridae, or mackerels. It is very 

 abundant, and is always seen in shoals. It is a very pretty 

 fish of a fine blue colour, with four dark lines extending from 

 the pectorals along the side of the belly to the tail. It reaches 

 about two feet in length. Its flesh is delicious eating. 



During the night of the nth of July, we passed the 

 Equator. On the I2th, we had the rare and magnificent 

 spectacle of an Eclipse of the Moon, of which we could observe 

 all the phases at leisure. The night was splendid, and the 

 weather warm. On the 2yth, we passed the Tropic, and we 

 : saw large quantities of John Dorys (or Dorades in French) 

 and Tunny fishes. We caught some of both. The John Dory 

 belongs to the family of Scombridae^ or mackerels. I think 

 the species we caught was Zeus opah, or king fish. It is a 

 superb fish brilliantly coloured, measuring between four and 

 five feet in length. It is apparently destitute of scales, and 

 perfectly smooth. The body is very high and compressed, 

 and the mouth has a few small erect teeth. The scales are 

 very small and satin like. They have one single dorsal fin, 

 and a short tail. It has a metallic lustre of a gray-silvery 

 colour, traversed with yellowish bands, and has a black mark 

 on each side of the back. It is very delicate and excellent 

 eating. It is supposed that the fish which St. Peter took out 

 from the sea, by command of Jesus Christ, and in whose body 

 the piece of money required for paying the tribute was found, 

 was one of these fishes. 



The tunny-fishes, THVNNUS, belong also to the same 

 family, and one species Thynnus thynnus, is very abundant- 

 in the Mediterranean, where it is caught in very large 

 quantities, preserved in oil and otherwise, and sent to all 

 parts of the world. 



Up to the 1 2th of August we had very fair weather, a 

 good breeze, and an average heat of about 30 Reaumur. It 

 was excessively pleasant to all, and very different to what we 

 had experienced in the Atlantic. Every day we could admire 

 the magnificent sunrises and sunsets, which are constantly to 

 be seen in the Pacific. The currents were also in our favour, so 

 everyone was content. As we were nearing San Francisco, 

 many of the passengers were already making their plans with 

 regard to their future movements. The majority of them were 

 going to California, with the intention of trying their luck in 

 the gold diggings ; we shall see later on how few of them 



