SCOMBEEIDiE. 199 



exciting in witnessing the wholesale capture of a herd of 

 these great black fish^ intermixed as they generally are 

 with the forms of many of their large congeners, and oc- 

 casionally with a sword-fish or a dolphin besides; and no 

 one ever left the spot after one of these enormous hauls, 

 without feeling that, however superior the whale-fishery 

 may be in enterprise, it cannot yield its votaries half the 

 pleasures and charms of these KTjrodTjpiac; for, in the first 

 place, the weather, to be propitious for the sport, must 

 be fine, as ^Elian* teUs us; and on such occasions (in 

 Provence at least) music and festivities go hand in hand 

 with toil. The following is Mons. Lacepede's lively ac- 

 count of this ' peche k la madrague:' — 'La curiosite 

 attire souvent un grande nombre de spectateurs autour 

 de la madrague ; on y accourt comme k une fete ; on ras- 

 semble autour de soi tout ce qui peut augmenter la viva- 

 cite du plaisir, on s'entoure d^instruments de musique ; 

 et quelles sensations ne sont pas en effet eprouvees ! I'im- 

 mensite des mers, la purete de I'air, la douceur de la 

 temperature, I'eclat d'un soleil vivifiant que les flots mol- 

 lement agites reflechissent et multiplient ; la fraicheur des 

 zephyrs; le concours des batimens legers; I'agilite des 

 marins ; I'adresse des pecheurs ; le courage de ceux qui 

 combattent contre d^enormes animaux rendus plus dan- 

 gereux par leur rage et desespoir; les elans rapides de 

 I'impatience, les cris de la joie, les acclamations de la 

 surprise, les sons harmonieux des cors, le retentissement 

 des rivages, les triomphes des vainqueurs, les appkudisse- 

 ments de la multitude ravie/ 



We may quote, too, our own experience as equally 

 pleasurable : it was early in the morning of a lovely Au- 

 gust day — never since we had been in Sicily had the water 

 looked more blue, nor the cactus-crowned heights of 



* 'Hpos Be inroXdfiirovTos, mi tS>v avijxav, elprjvatov rj&r] Karmrve- 

 ovTtiyVf Koi rov depos (j)ai8pov tstoptos Koi olovel fxetdiavTos, Kal tov 

 Kvp^Tos Kfip,ivov, Kol Xcias OTlirrjs Trjs BaXdTTrjs, etc. 



