THE WILD BOARS OF THE OCEAN. 133 



giant of edible fishes. Before they found out how 

 to catch them in shoals, the fishermen of every 

 country had only the harpoon to work with. After 

 that, the first engine devised by the fishermen was 

 the train, — a net stretched some sixty yards from 

 the shore, so as to be drawn landward by a large 

 double rope fastened to the further end. The main 

 drawback of this train-net was that it only captured 

 about one-tenth of the shoal, whilst it efi'ectually 

 frightened the rest. 



During the night (a dark night was best) a boat, 

 with several fishermen in it, would set sail for the 

 place where a shoal of tunnies had been seen at 

 sunset. If rowing were necessary, the oars were 

 muffled, and when the place was reached, the net, 

 corked and leaded, was quietly paid out, and as soon 

 as the whole train was shot, the boat turned about, 

 rowing round to the left, without letting go of the 

 net, so as to encircle the tunnies, the fishermen 

 beating the water as Xerxes flogged the sea, and 

 halloaing out so as to frighten the tunnies, who, not 

 knowing what had happened to them, became scat- 

 tered about, and entangled themselves in the meshes 

 of the net, which the fishermen gradually drew 

 towards the shore by the end ropes. Once landed, 

 the take was usually found to be very remu- 

 nerative. 



Appian relates that, in his time, the fishermen 

 liad invented a net, which (judging from his descrip- 



