The Leaping Tuna 69 
of cafions, constitutes a series of traps, into which 
they can charge the flying-fishes; and when they 
are feeding, they can be caught on the edge of 
the kelp within twenty feet of the shore. The 
tuna does not travel in a single large school. 
That they arrive in a body is doubtless true, but 
when once on the ground they divide into small 
squadrons of from fifty to two hundred and are 
apparently preparing to spawn, playing on the 
surface, and on calm days, which are the rule in 
spring, they can be seen for a long distance, the 
spike dorsal out of the water, followed by the 
upper lobe of the sharp crescent tail. They move 
in the general form of flying ducks or geese; 
a large triangular figure, with one or two large 
fishes perhaps in the lead. They are so tame 
that a boat can approach within fifteen or twenty 
feet of them before they sink, and it is an easy 
matter to follow and circle the school. 
In fishing we are on the beach at daylight. 
To the east great bands of vermilion are piercing 
the sky, and the entire heavens are blazing with 
a rosy light, the advance guard of the sun that 
presently comes up over the Sierras on the main- 
land like a ball of fire. The boatman, who is 
just in with fresh flying-fishes, reports tunas all 
