TUNNIES. 243 



True Mackerels (Scomber], including the Tunny, the Sword-Fish, the 

 Bonito, and the common Mackerel. 



The Common Mackerel (Scomber scombrus] has a blue back marked with un- 

 dulating black stripes, and five false fins ; it is a migratory fish, and at certain seasons 

 abounds both on the coasts of Europe and of America. On the western coast of England 

 mackerel are captured with nets by torchlight. The fishermen spread themselves over 

 several miles, and cast their nets, which are sometimes more than a league in extent, 

 in the direction pursued by the shoals of mackerel. The meshes of the net are of a 

 size to receive the head of a moderate-sized fish, but arrest it by the fins, and when it 

 endeavours to extricate itself, its gills become entangled, and it is held prisoner. 



The mackerel is also caught by the hook and line. It bites voraciously at anything 

 that appears to have life a bright fish, a piece of glittering metal, or a bit of scarlet 

 cloth. The line is short, but made heavy with lead, and in this manner a couple of 

 men can catch a thousand in a day. With swelling sails the boat flies along, and a sharp 

 wind is considered so desirable that it is called a "mackerel breeze." The more rapid 

 the speed the greater the success, for the mackerel rushes like lightning after the boat, 

 taking it for a flying prey. " There is not," writes the author of " Wild Sports of the 

 West," "on sea or river always excepting angling for salmon any sport comparable 

 to this delightful amusement, full of life and bustle, everything about it is animating and 

 exhilarating, a bri.sk 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 moniing's mackerel-fishing." 



FIG. 252. TL-NXY. 



The Tunnies (Thynnus) are closely related to the mackerel, from which 

 they are distinguished by a kind of corslet 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 Madragus : 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 be- 

 tween 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 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 



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