254 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



resistance diminishes, and soon the victim pauses for 

 an instant; but that instant is enough ; a dozen hooks 

 are at once buried in his flesh, a dozen arms are bent 

 to lift him to the surface of the water. In vain the 

 skin has given way ; each hook that loses its hold is 

 raised on high only to be buried still deeper in the 

 quivering flesh, and soon the unfortunate animal is 

 drawn to the side of the boat ; in another moment 

 he is seized by two men, who each grasping one of 

 his large pectoral fins lift him to the beam which is 

 placed behind them, and throw him into the hold. 



But the net is always remorselessly rising, and 

 now the entire shoal of tunnies is exposed to view. 

 Pressed close to one another, these monster fishes 

 are throwing themselves in despair against the flex- 

 ible walls of the corpou, at one moment showing 

 their black yellow-spotted backs, at another moment 

 cleaving the surface of the water with their large 

 crescent-shaped fins. Here and there a few sword- 

 fish with their long pointed snouts may be seen 

 interspersed among the tunnies. Animated by the 

 sight of the victims which lie exposed to their attack, 

 the sailors strike with redoubled force, and the 

 fishing becomes a massacre. One can no longer 

 individualise the separate actors in this drama ; the 

 serried crowd seems to be composed of nothing but 

 violently moving heads, bleeding arms, which rise 

 and fall, and harpoons which flash and cross one 

 another as they are hurled against the victims. All 

 eyes are sparkling, all lips are uttering cries of tri- 

 umph, clamour, and encouragement. The waters of 

 the corpou are tinged with blood, and every moment 



