222 MISCPXLANKA. 



inches long, and twenty -four inches in greatest girth behind th.e 

 pectoral fins, and weighing about twenty-seven pounds. Mr, 

 Clarke's outline' drawing will give some idea of the shape of the 

 fish, which he very rightly judged to be related to the Mackerel. 

 The body was dark bluish gray above, and silvery white beneath 

 and on the sides when fresh, and no scales were visible ; but the 

 scales on the belly and sides show themselves when the skin be- 

 comes quite dry. Teeth very small for the size of the fish. Mr. 

 John F. Spence ascertained for me that many of these Tunnies 

 had been caught by several fishermen in the Salmon nets during 

 Monday night (16th June). One fisherman brought in twenty- 

 five and another ten. They were sold at North Shields Fish 

 Quay at sixpence each, and were afterwards retailed in the shops 

 at sixpence per pound. On "Wednesday, 18th June, I went down 

 to Blackett Street, and saw several of these Tunnies in Mr. 

 Brown's shops. They were about three feet long, and were re- 

 tailed at sixpence per pound. The fiesh was red like beef, and 

 not unpalatable. These Tunnies were caught by the Tyne fisher- 

 men on the Monday night only, and though a sharp look-out was 

 kept none were caught after that time in 1884. The fishermen 

 started a theory that they had followed a ship from Norway, 

 whose keel was covered with Barnacles, etc. ; but it is more pro- 

 bable that their visit was accidental, as we can find no record of' 

 Tunnies having been captured on this coast before, but when 

 once on our coast they would have no difficulty in obtaining 

 food, as they feed on Pilchard or Herring. 



Donovan mentions that three were caught in the summer of 

 1801 near the entrance of the Thames, and brought to Billings- 

 gate Market, but before that time had been taken only in the 

 north of the island. He says " the flesh is tolerable ; when raw 

 it looks like beef, but becomes of much paler hue in boiling. Its 

 flavour is between that of Salmon and Mackerel, though certainly 

 inferior to either." The usual length of the species is two to 

 three feet, those of six or seven feet are not common, and it rarely 

 exceeds ten feet. 



Dr. Fleming states that the Tunny is rare in England, but 

 frequent on the west coast of Scotland, — Richard Jloivse, 



