The King Mackerel 183 



for the anterior third of the body, then gradually deve- 

 loping into a series of conical horny protuberances, 

 as if the fish were developing an armour-plating like 

 the sturgeon. All mackerel possess this curious line 

 of scaly excrescences, and all mackerel, although not 

 absolutely without scales, have very few of them, and 

 what they have are covered with a fine, tough, and 

 transparent skin. Most of the scales are plated around 

 the shoulders of the fish, where, too, the hues are 

 deepest. 



The head is of an almost ideal shape for a fish, of 

 perfect curves, and with a clean-cut, tightly closing 

 mouth, whose bony jaws, apart from the rows of 

 needle-sharp teeth, are quite as effective in dealing 

 with prey as the snap of a pair of tailor's shears would 

 be, operated with the same force that this vigorous 

 fish can exert. The eyes are two splendid orbs, 

 averaging two inches in diameter, and so set in the 

 head that they give an almost perfect range of vision, 

 being also slightly prominent and entirely unshaded 

 by lids, brows, or membrane. Their colour I am not 

 quite sure of, but to the best of my recollection it is an 

 intensely dark blue for the pupil, with a surrounding 

 rim of gold. 



The food of the Albacore is living fish of any kind, 

 not too large for his devouring, but is principally 

 composed of. the leaping squid (Loligo) and flying-fish. 

 It is in pursuit of these latter that he exhibits that 

 amazing agility for which he and the coryphaena are 

 famous, an agility almost incredible to witness. I am 

 quite unable to assess the rate at which an Albacore 

 can travel, but I should certainly say that when I 

 have seen him darting along just beneath the surface 

 of the sea, following a flying-fish cleaving the air 

 overhead at top speed, that it has not been less than 



