SPINY-FINNED FISHES. 325 



exhilarating, a brisk breeze and a clear sky, the boat in quick and 

 constant motion, all is calculated to interest and excite. He who 

 has experienced the glorious sensation of sailing on the Western 

 Ocean, a bright autumnal sky above, a deep-green swell around, a 

 steady breeze, and as much of it as the hooker can stand up to, will 

 estimate the enjoyment of a morning's mackerel-fishing." 



The Tunnies (Thynnus) are closely related to the 

 Mackerel, from which they are distinguished by a 

 kind of corselet round the thorax, composed of scales 

 larger and not so smooth as those of the rest of the 

 body. 



The Common Tunny (Scomber Thynnus) resembles the Mackerel in 

 its general form, but is rounder, and attains a larger size. In general, 

 its length is three or four feet, but it has been known to attain more 

 than fifteen. This fish is sometimes seen in the ocean, but it abounds 

 specially in the Mediterranean. At certain periods it coasts along 

 the shore in innumerable shoals, and gives rise to very important 

 fisheries, which have been carried on from time immemorial, and 

 constitute a chief source of wealth to Provence and Sardinia. One of 

 the most remarkable modes of taking the Tunny is by the Madrague : 

 this name is given to a sort of labyrinth of nets stretched out 

 vertically into the sea, and so arranged as to form a series of 

 chambers. The fishes first pass between the shore and the chambers 

 destined to receive them, but arrested by a cross net, they turn 

 towards the high sea, and enter the labyrinth, where they become 

 bewildered, and pass on into the last enclosure, called the " chamber 

 of death" or "corpou." This compartment is provided with a 



252. TUNXl*. 



moveable floor formed of netting, which can be raised to the surface 

 of the water by means of ropes, and as the moving floor of the 

 corpou gradually rises, the Tunnies begin to appear, and soon the 

 whole shoal is exposed to view. Pressed close to each other, the 

 monster fishes throw themselves about and rush in despair against 

 the netted walls of their prison. Animated by the sight of their 

 victims, the fishermen assail them in a body, and the whole becomes 

 a wild scene of massacre. The serried crowds of slaughterers seem 

 to be composed of nothing but violently moving heads, bloody arms 

 that rise and fall, and harpoons that flash and cross one another as 



