THE WILD BOARS OF THE OCEAN. 131 



Whence come the tunnies? Where do they 

 remain during the winter months ? I know not, and 

 I have not met with anybody who is able to answer 

 that question. Pliny and other ancient naturalists 

 (in whose knowledge I must confess I have but slen- 

 der confidence) assign to them as a winter residence 

 the Sea of Azof, the Palus Meotides of the ancients. 

 The modern ichthyologists declare that they come 

 from the open sea, and that whilst some penetrate the 

 Mediterranean by the Straits of Gibraltar — making 

 the tour of the coast, from Tetuan to Tunis, and so 

 on to Alexandria, Constantinople, and then the Black 

 Sea and the Sea of Azof, returning in considerably 

 diminished numbers by Greece, Illyria, and Italy, 

 France and Spain — others strike ofi" bravely towards 

 the American coasts, and spread themselves from the 

 West Indies to the mainland. However that may 

 be (wherever these giant fish get to in winter), it is 

 certain that as soon as fine weather returns the 

 tunnies re-appear on the surface, and delight the 

 astonished eyes of the fishermen. There can be no 

 doubt that these fish are attracted to our shores by 

 the sea-acorns, which grow every spring in every 

 bay. This marked taste of the tunny for the sea- 

 acorn has earned for it in France the name of Cochin 

 maritime, and in the States that of the "Wild 

 Boar of the Ocean." The principal cause of this 

 peculiar predilection is, in my opinion, the opportunity 

 aftbrded to deposit their ova securely in those masses 



