247 



impossible except in the case of fish whose nature leads 

 them to resort to the shore for spawning purposes or for 

 food. 



This immensity and the impervious conditions of the 

 element in which fish live, throw such obscurity over their 

 mysterious life that it is not possible to pronounce an 

 opinion upon this question, except so far as we are in a 

 position to do so from observations made from the coast 

 and its surrounding waters, and even then the comparisons 

 must extend over long periods of time. It is well known 

 that both on land and sea many species of animals have 

 entirely disappeared, and their fossil remains alone come 

 down to confirm historical references. But without going 

 back to such early times, we may refer to the great 

 diminution in the number of whales within the present 

 century, a diminution probably more owing to the voracity 

 of other aquatic animals than to overfishing by man. 



We can also cite the diminution of the smaller species in 

 proof of our assertion, the tunny, for example, as referred to 

 by ancient historians. Strabo and Pliny both call attention 

 to the enormous quantities of this fish caught by the 

 Phoenicians, and the arm of the sea near Constantinople 

 owes its designation of the Golden Horn to the immense 

 wealth which the Byzantines drew up from it in the shape 

 of tunnies, and lastly, Caio Plinio mentions the fact of the 

 fleet of Charles the Great encountering a shoal of tunnies 

 which altogether impeded his progress. In much later 

 times the reports of the erudite Father Sarmiento give 

 particulars as to this fishery, from which we can judge of 

 its decline ; the reports showing much greater quantities 

 than those now obtained. 



The tunny is a migratory fish living in the deep sea, and 

 returning every year to the eastern parts of the Mediterra- 



