244 



FISHES. 



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 they are hurled at the helpless fishes. All eyes are sparkling, all 

 lips are uttering cries of triumph, clamour, and encouragement, the waters are dyed red 

 with blood, the dying lie heaped together in vast multitudes, and the result is that five 

 hundred or six hundred tunnies are thus butchered in one " tonnara." The flesh of the 

 tunny is much esteemed ; it resembles beef, and is preserved either by the aid of salt, 

 or by boiling and immersing it in oil. 



FIG. 253. BONITO. 



The Bonito (Scomber pelamys], celebrated on account of its pursuit of the flying- 

 fishes in the tropics, is a kind of tunny : it may be recognized by the longitudinal brown 

 stripes with which the belly is marked. 



The Sword-Fishes (Xiphias)* are distinguished by their beak or sword- 

 like nose, which is often fifteen feet in length. This fish is more common in 

 the Mediterranean than in the Atlantic. The flesh, which is white and com- 

 pact, is delicate. It is often taken with the harpoon. 



FIG. 254. SWORD-FISH. 



Another tribe, called Centronotus,f is characterized by the absence of 

 the membrane that unites the rays of the first dorsal fin, which consequently 

 remain free. Among other fishes belonging to this tribe is 



The Pilot-Fish. (Naucrates'+ or Scomber ductor], so called from its habit of following 

 vessels to seize anything that may be thrown overboard, and also the habit attributed 

 to it of conducting the shark, which, directed by the same instinct, frequently accom- 

 panies vessels at sea with great perseverance. It has somewhat the appearance of a 



, xiphos, a sword. 



t Kevrpov, centron, a sharp point ; J/WTOS, notes, the back. 

 , naucrates, commanding tlie sea. 



