THE TUNNY. , 469 
by attaching a number of nets together at the ends. Each of these nets 
is one hundred and twenty feet long and twenty feet deep, and along the 
upper edge are fastened a series of cork floats. When the net is to be shot, 
a large buoy is attached to the end of the drift-rope, the buoy is thrown over- 
board, and the sails set. As the boat dashes away from the spot, the nets, 
which have already been attached to the drift-rope, are thrown successively 
overboard, until all the nets are paid out and hang in the water like a net 
wall. The strain of the buoy at one end of the drift rope and the boat at the 
other keeps the rope straight and the net upright. P 
As the Mackerel come swimming along, they are arrested by the net, which 
they cannot see, on account of the thin twine of which it is made, and the 
large meshes, which are about two-and-a-half inches in diameter. The head 
slips through the meshes, but the middle of the body is too large and cannot 
pass. When the fish attempts to recede, the open gill-covers become hitched 
in the meshes, and so retain it in that uncomfortable position until the net is 
hauled in.. ; 
This is a delicate and difficult operation, especially when the take of fish is 
heavy. Mr. Yarrell mentions that in June 1808 the nets were so heavily 
loaded that the fishermen could not haul them in, or even keep them afloat, so 
that they were forced to cut the drift-ropes and let the nets sink and he lost. 
The nets on this occasioa were worth nearly sixty pounds, not including 
the value of the fish. 
In the seine-net, the fish are taken by surrounding the shoal with the net, 
which is made with very small meshes, - 
and either gently hauled to the sur- 
face, so that the enclosed fish can be 
dipped out, or even drawn ashore and 
then emptied. 
Fishing for Mackerel with a line is 
also a profitable mode of taking these 
fish, although they cannot be caught ¢ 
in such multitudes as with the net. 
The Mackerel is a very voracious 
fish, and will bite at almost any 
glittering substance drawn quickly MACKEREL. —(Scomber scomber.) 
through the water, a strip of scarlet ° : 
cloth being a very favourite bait. A tapering strip of flesh cut from the side 
of a-Mackerel is found to be the most successful of any bait, and the method 
of angling is simply to pass the hook through the thicker end of the strip 
—technically called a “lask”—and to throw it overboard a boat in full 
sail, so that it is towed along without trouble. ‘The hook is kept below the 
surface of the water by means of a leaden plummet fixed to the line a. short 
distance above the hook, and the Mackerel on seizing the flying bait is im- 
mediately caught. Ona favourable day, when the sky is not too bright and 
the wind is tolerably brisk, two or three men can take the fish as fast as they 
can bait and throw overboard. 
The colour of the Mackerel is rich green upon the back, variegated with 
deep blue and traversed with cross bands of black, straight in the males, but 
undulating in the females. The abdomen and sides are silvery white, with 
golden reflections. These colours are most brilliant during the life of the 
fish, and as they fade soon after it has left the water, their brilliancy affords 
a good test of its freshness. 
THE celebrated TuNNy belongs to this family, and is closely allied to the 
Mackerel. 
This magnificent and most important fish does not visit our coasts in 
