TUNNY. 137 



The flesh of the Tunny is considered very delicious food ; 

 but it is so solid, that it seems something between fish and 

 meat : it is as firm as Sturgeon, but finer flavoured. " They 

 dress this fish in France,"" says an author, " in a great variety 

 of ways, and always excellent : it mates capital soup ; or it is 

 served as a ragout, or plain fried or broiled : pies are made of 

 it, which are so celebrated as to be sent all over France ; 

 they will keep good for six weeks or two months. There is 

 also a mode of preserving it to keep the whole year round, 

 with salt and oil, called Thon marine : this is eaten cold, as 

 we eat pickled salmon." The flesh before it is cooked has 

 the red appearance of beef, but when dressed it becomes 

 more pale. 



In the ocean, and on the western shores of the European 

 Continent, the appearance of the Tunny is more rare, — al- 

 most accidental. Duhamel records having known it to be 

 taken off Brest harbour. Mr. Couch has noticed their 

 appearance on the Cornish coast, and will be referred to 

 again. Mr. Donovan states that, in 1801, three Tunnies 

 were taken near the entrance of the river Thames, and 

 brought to Billingsgate market for sale. Mr. Paget says 

 that small specimens are not unfrequently caught during the 

 Mackerel fishery off Yarmouth. They have been taken among 

 the islands west and north of Scotland, Avhere they are called 

 Mackrelsture or Mackerelstawr (Great Mackerel) ; a name 

 derived from the Norwegians, — or, according to other au.thors, 

 from the Danish word stor, which signifies ' great."* 



Dr. Seoul er has communicated to the Magazine of Natu- 

 ral History a notice (vol. vi. p. 559,) of a specimen of the 

 Tunny taken in the Gair-loch, nearly opposite Greenock, in 

 Jvily 1831. It had entered the loch in pursuit of Herrings, 

 got entangled among the nets, was sent by the fishermen to 

 Glasgow, and is now deposited in the Andersonian Museum. 



