Oct. 26, 1901.] 
FOREST AND STREAi 
829 
jvor, which, they held, was derived from the acorns of 
le small oak which in those days overhung the coasts 
: the Peninsuh. Famous fisheries also existed then, as 
oil as now, on the shores of Sicily. 
It was the fishery of the Bosphorus, however, which 
Iracted the most notice, both in classical and hiediaeval 
mes, and its importance is measured by the number 
nd detailed character of the descriptive passages. 
In later times the Black Sea seems to have lost its dis- 
nction as the favorite haunt of the tunny, while the in- 
ustry has developed in the more central waters of tlie 
lediterranean. The western fisheries held out longer, 
he Atlantic fisheries of tunny were important industries 
ill the middle of the eighteenth century. The Dukes 
f Medina Sidonia owned the most famous ones, and 
rew a large part of their revenues from them; they 
ound employment for 500 men. But they gradually fell 
nto mismanagement and decay, and by the middle of the 
cntury had declined into quite unimportant industries. 
3ne reads but little of them after 1755, except a kind of 
bituary notice, which declares that the earthquake oT 
hat year, which converted Lisbon into a heap of ruins, 
>o altered the configuration of the Spanish coasts that 
he tunnies which had frequented them sought elsewhere 
[or more congenial breeding grounds. 
A fish so historic, so valuable, and of such goodly pro- 
portions may well be worth the angler's attention; a finny 
prize of 1,000 pounds, or even 500 pounds, is not to be 
despised, and if the tunny can be caught in the Mediter- 
ranean, why journey to the far-off Pacific? There, in- 
deed, at Santa Catalina, on the Pacific coast, tunnies, or, 
as they are called, the flying tuna, are caught with rod 
and line every year in May and June. The bait used is 
a flying fish, in pursuit of which the tunnies appear every 
spring in large numbers, churning the sea into foam, and 
leaping in the pursuit of their fiying quarry — whence the 
name of the "fiying tuna." The tackle used is similar 
to that employed for the capture of the tarpon, the king 
of tlie herring, as the tunny is the king of the mackerel 
tribe. The fish make their appearance in May, and the 
angling continues till August, tlie best of it beginning 
about June 15, and lasting for a month. Judging from 
those that are caught witlv the rod, the Pacific tuna does 
not seem to attain to anything like the same proportions 
as the tunny of the deep sea waters of the Central Med- 
iterranean. Some 250 pounds weight is the record of the 
Tuna Club, which has. the strictest rules and regulations 
with regard to membership. The rod used by a would- 
be member to kill his fish must not be of more tkan a 
certain length or weight, nor the line of more than a 
certain thickness, and the aspirant, if he would qualify 
for membership, must wield the rod the whole time with 
his own hands; the captain of the club' for the year being 
the member who catches the largest tuna of the year 
under these conditions. The fish are very exhausting 
to play, sometimes taking as much as six hours, or even 
more; but a little practice with the rod wonderfully 
shortens the time required to kill the fish, when muscles 
have got accustomed to bear the strain, and skill has come 
with experience. At first it seems absurd to attempt to 
land anything of the size, strength, and activity of the 
tuna with a frail rod and line, but, nevertheless, it can 
be done. The fish, as a matter of fact, tires himself out 
if he be not allowed to get his second wind, and the 
greatest possible strain is kept on him without relaxation 
all the time. 
It is almost incredible,. what monsters of the deep can 
be landed with the rod and line; black bass and jewfish 
of preposterous dimensions can, with strength, time, and 
skill, be grad.uaily worked up from the depths of the 
ocean; 700 pounds weight oi struggHng fish life has been 
successfully brought to the gaff in the shape of Mr. Vom 
Hofe's swordfish, and a swordfish is no mean fighter, 
besides being a lightning swimmer; and I, myself, when 
in Florida, in 1899, had an experience that the rod and 
reel were mightier than the chain and rope. Boca 
Grande Pass was swarming with sharks, a large number 
no doubt always living there, and a large number being 
collected by the tarpon fishing. Every night, from the 
little yacht on which we lived, we used to put out shark 
tackle, with hooks imd chains of portentous size and thick- 
ness, and every night the sharks used to break them and 
carry them off tili they were all gone. Nevertheless, at 
the close of my stay at Boca Grande, with a rod and line 
I caught a shark w^hich was bigger than any I saw besides. 
He took a tarpon I was playing, an average-sized fish 
in a year in which the fish ran large, of some 120 pounds, 
and 'whether he swallowed tlie whole fish or only the 
head portion of it I do not know, but certainly he got 
well hooked, and, after a violent engagement, which 
lasted about forty minutes, he was gaffed and lay still 
by the side of the boat, than which he was, to all appear- 
ance, very much longer — so much so that all idea of pull- 
ing him into it was given up, and, the yacht being some 
four miles off, it was not considered worth while drag- 
ging him there, so, after a few pats on the head, he was 
let go, This episode is only alluded to as an instance 
of the size of fish which can be captured with a rod; and 
if these things can be done in the Atlantic and in the 
Pacific, why should they not be feasible in the Mediter- 
ranean? 
That is a tiroblem which I and a companion set out to 
solve this spring with a proper equipment of rods, hooks, 
and lines. From all accounts, the tunnies off the iEga- 
dian Islands, on the west coast of Sicily, were those most 
worthv of attention, running, as they were reputed to, 
and. indeed, did, up to 1.200 pounds, and not the lesser 
frv of the North African and other coasts of the Mediter- 
ranean, small fish from i=;o to 300 pounds. So. to Jra- 
pani we went the chief town on the mainland, within 
easv hai! of the islands aforesaid and the tunmes which 
the'v sheltered. That the fish were there we soon had 
ocular demonstration, for, steaming out m our little 
launch to the fixed tunny nets, off the island of Formica, 
we were allowed bv the Reis, or head man at the fish- 
ery to row o'ver one of the net chambers m which the 
fish were confined, and ' to look down upon some hun- 
■ dreds of them quietly swimming about below, uncon- 
scious of the doom that was awraiting them in the Cam.era 
del Morte. a few chambers off. But besides allmvmg us 
to see th'e fish, for which we were grateful, the Reis im- 
parted to us a piece of information which considerab.y 
time of vear the tunnies ate nothing at all; they are in 
love, said the Reis, and they eat nothing. They wander 
round in large shoals and enter the nets, and are quite 
happy, their motto for the time being, "the more the 
merrier;" in fact, frequently in the night the tunnies in- 
side the nets were joined by tunnies from outside, which 
forced their wav through the unsubstantial network of 
the outer chambers, and, when once there, remained 
contentedly, without employing a similar method of exit 
to regain their freedom in the open sea. Further investi- 
gations from young and old inhabitants served, alas ! only 
to confirm this theory, which was strengthened by the 
fact that when the thousands of tunny which are caught 
at this time of the year along the Sicilian coasts were 
opened no traces of food were found inside them. Later 
on they would take; after the feast of St. Peter, men 
caught them trailing behind the sailing boats, and des- 
perate fights they had with ihem, ending in the local 
hospital— but with good, thick ropes, and three men to 
pull, not with wretched little lines and reels, such as we 
had, which lio self-respecting tunny would take the 
smallest notice of. This information appeared to be as 
accurate as it was disappointing, and, in other surround- 
ings, would have been distressing; but at Trapam, as, in- 
deed, elsewhere in Sicily, there is so much that is curious, 
interesting, and. indeed, exciting, that a week spent there 
is not ill spent, even though the tunnies in May will not 
take a bait. The bay shaped like a sickle, which gave 
its name to Trapani, the ancient Drepanum and the cele- 
brated Temple of Venus Ericyna, on the summit of 
Monte San Giuliano, have seen many strange sights and 
a long procession of fresh conquerors and changing civil- 
izations since the first great regatta. Trojans, Athenians, 
Syracusans, Carthaginians. Romans, Vandals, Saracens, 
Normans, French. Spaniards, and Austrians have all 
fought around them, and many have left their mark, 
which lasts to the present day. 
Before leaving Sicily, however, we saw a dire revenge 
taken on the tunnies which had despised our allurements. 
.•Vt Favignana, where a slab attached to a door of a 
church in the island records a famous catch which took 
place more than 400 years ago, there is still the most 
'lucrative tunny fishery in Sicily, and through the kind- 
ness of its proprietor, Commendatorc Florio, to whom 
most things in Sicily belong, we were the privileged spec- 
tators of more than one "matanza," and a "matanza" is 
a sight well worth seeing. The fish are guided into the 
chambers, which open one into the other, till they end in 
the chamber of death, by long arms of coarse netting, 
which stretch out on either side to intercept the shoals 
which pursue a regular course, and cause them to coast 
round till they find the opening into the chamber, which 
thev unsuspectingly enter. These arms are sometimes 
some four miles in length, one being known as the ''coda, 
or tail and the other as the "costa," and they both end 
in the'"campile." The tunny is a gentle and a curious 
-fish and is apparently not alarmed at finding himself in 
confinement, and never seems to make a dash through 
the nets, which at this stage he could do without miich 
difficulty, but onlv follows them round till he finds his 
passage unimpeded. The nets are kept in position by 
a hawser at the top. called a "sommo," which is kept 
afloat by large pieces of cork, and a hawser at the bot- 
tom, called the "piombo," which is weighted with large 
piece*; f>f =tone; the vertical lines which connect the two 
are called 'modellari." and the whole is made secure by 
anchors nlaced at stated intervals, Men in barges are 
constantly on the watch over the nets, and by long prac- 
tice can state with absolute precision the number of hsh 
that have entered the chambers. They can be passed 
from one chamber to another by opening the door, which 
is done by letting the net over the aperture drop, and 
closing it again bv puUing it up after they have gone 
through If the fish are unwilling to move as required, 
advantage is taken of their curiousity. and something 
bri^^ht exhibited at the opening, and when one has passed 
through to see what it is all the rest follow. So they are 
moved on, and when there is a sufficient number col- 
lected in the penultimate chamber preparations are made 
tor the "matanza." The last chamber is the chamber of 
ileath and no tunnv once across its fatal threshhold 
■omes out alive. It is formed of much stronger netting 
han the other compartments, each of which also has its 
separate name, and its bottom, too. is made of netting 
attached bv thick hawsers to large bundles of cork, known 
not sport-^it is merely catching tunnies, and the tunny is 
a valuable fish. When the last of the catch has been 
hauled in, and none escape, a short chant is sung to the 
Blessed Virgin, and the long line of laden barges sets 
out toward the shore, where a hard day's work awaits 
the men employed. The destination is a huge factory, 
filled with every possible appliance for dealing with the 
catch, however great. Here the fish are dragged up an 
inclined plane, laid in lines, and their heads cut o6f by a 
headsman, with a long axe, who performs the operation 
in two ■ strokes, the intestines are removed, and the roe 
and milt carried off in wooden troughs and placed in 
brine. The fish is then hung up by the tail for about 
eight hours, after which he is cut up and boiled in copper 
vats, and then the pieces are carefully placed in tins, fitted 
in like a child's puzzle, the tins are, filled with oil and 
soldered down. Every part of the tunny is used, and has 
its particular name. There are four different qualities 
preserved in oil. The heads are boiled for oil, and the 
bones and ashes are sold as manure, a use being thus 
found for every portion of the unfortunate creature's 
anatomy. A good tunny fishery is a valuable possession, 
the heavy fish of Favignana being worth on an average 
some £4 net, and ten to twelve thousand in the season 
is by no means an unprecedented catch. The largest in- 
dividual caught this year weighed 1,300 pounds. One 
of the rnost striking features is the great number of men 
employed at the factory, and the discipline and rapidity 
with which they work. There was at Favignana the usual 
convict establishment, and the convicts are employed m 
the packing of pieces of tunny into the tins, which are 
also made on the spot. Italy, and especially Genoa, is 
the greatest customer for the finished article, which Is 
protected by high duties from the competition of the 
Sardinian and Spanish fi.sheries. 
The tunnies are certainly there in large numbers and 
of great size; perhaps, when they are no longer in love, 
and the feast of St. Peter is safely past, those that have 
escaped the dread portals of the "camera del morte 
mi^ht be induced to take a bait, even as they do in the 
Pacific, and then, indeed, an Homeric struggle would en- 
sue A 500-pound tunnv would undoubtedly take some 
catching "on a rod; he is. from all accounts, a strong 
though timid fish, and goes straight aw^av from you m 
desnerate. long runs. In this he differs from the tarpon, 
with a hundred of whom T have made intimate acquaint- 
ance within the space of three weeks—a most impet"ous 
fish who will nish anywhere when he is hooked, and 
even flin? himself into your own boat, as I have seen 
haniDen on more than one occasion. But this prize of the 
TEcradian Islands will not be brought to the gaff without 
the" help of ^hose tutelary deities of the sea who have 
before now helped spo-tsmen m difficulties on this his- 
toric spot in the brave days of old. ^ Guskfetx. 
tlampt-ned our piscatorial ardour — namely, that at tna. pi 
as "cagnazzi." , . t 1. - 
When the dav of the "matanza" arrives, the fish being 
secured in the "camera del morte," three sides ot it are 
inclosed bv huge barges, while another huge barge, 
Tammed with men. beginning at the distant end of the 
compartment, slowly approaches them broadside on. 
dracro-ed forward bv means of the bottom net, which is 
thurbrought to the surface and dropped as the barge 
passes on In the middle, during the whole tmie there 
is a head-man in a boat directing the raising of the net 
beneath him. The whole operation is carried on to the 
accompaniment of weird cries from the multitude of me-u 
who are hauling up the net. For some time there is 
nothing to be seen, but as the moving barge approaches 
there is suddenly the great swiri caused by, the first ^rush 
of the empty fish to the surface, which is by far the nnest 
sicrht in the dav\s work. Soon after this, as the fatal net 
rise';, the whole of the water is one sheet of foam and 
snray flung high over the barges, which inclose it on all 
side. Here and there a swordfish is seen darting thi.s 
way^and that in the extreniitv of terror, and the great 
forked tails of the tunnies lash the water in tlieir futile 
struggles to escane. But soon the spray which was as 
wh te as snow, s^ets tinged with red, and finally becomes 
more red Uian white, as' the iron hooks attached to short 
Doles are driven Into the sides of the tinfortunate fish^ 
which, with incredible rapidity and scant «remony. are 
dr?--ed up over the gunwale of the barge, and fall mto 
ts caoacioSs hold with a resounding thud^ ^1^^ .^T^and 
a trained hand, very often with inherited abili y. and 
occupies his allotted nost. and m a ver.' short time the 
two end barcres begin to sink in the water with a load of 
ome 700 tunnies, averaging more than <oo PoJ^^s apt ce 
fin theKd flow: and \he .-at taUs^^tm^prng 
the bottom boards, scatter it m jets. 's a verv 
r.1e-.s3nt sight, the la.^t scenes of a "matanza, and ^ is 
Nets in Lake Champlain. 
Editor Forest and Stream: n , :„ 
I send inclosed an article which appeared recently m 
the Albany Argus. Of course I do not vouch for its 
correctness, and the facts may be exaggerated especially 
as to the employment of a steam yacht to take boat^ to 
the spawning beds of the black bass. for. from the infor- 
mation which I have obtained, those who take the soawn- 
ers from the'r beds do so from rowboats, hired, borrowed 
or hooked from persons living on the shore.^ 
There are two evils referred to m this artxle which 
however, do exist, and unless they are stopned. and that 
speedily, anglers will very soon bid good-by to Lake 
Champlain. , . . . , . • .i.- «... 
The western portion of this lake is in this State and 
our law does not permit game fish to be taken _ at any • 
time with nets; the eastern portion lies mo^tlv in Ver- 
mont, and the laws in regard to the use of seines are not 
at all strict, and such as they are. are seldom entorced; 
the extreme northern end of the lake lies in Canada and 
includes immense spawning grotmds for the pike-nerch 
and here licenses to use seines are so freely granted that 
fish are taken in enormous quantities during the spawning 
season and sent largely to New York. . 
As one of the residts of the free nse of nets in the Ver- 
mont and Canadian waters, the landlocked salmon which 
were placed in the northern part of this lake some years 
a"-o and which, for a while increased, have almost en- 
tirely disappeared— simply taken from their spawning beds 
'Another evil referred to in that article, and perhaps the 
more serious of the' two, is the taking of bass from the 
spawn beds in May and the fore part of June. I sent an 
article to Forest and Stream in regard to this last year, 
but refer to it briefly again. . 
The principal grounds for the small-mouth bass are in 
the eastern part of the lake, near the north end. and from 
the lack of streams, they are forced to construct their 
beds near the eastern shore, where, when the water is 
quiet they can readily be seen and taken from boats by 
simply dropping a line with a gang of hooks "Pon it 
alongside of the fish, and jerking it into the boat, ihis 
is not only done by those living on the shore who w^ant a 
bass or two for their upper, but it is quite a custom for a 
number of people living in St. Albans, which is some six 
miles from, the finest bass grounds in the lake, to go to it 
on still days and take large numbers of bass, niany of 
them weighing as high as 4 pounds, and on their return 
send messes to their friends. , » , 1. 
I think it but fair that I should state that I have ob- 
tained this information from persons living on the shore 
and also from several residents of St. Albans, who 
freely told me of their violation of the law, and said 
that thev proposed to continue it so long as the authorities 
winked at it. J- S. Van Cle^ 
The inclosure sent by Mr. Van Cleef reads t 
Anglers who for vears have enjoyed the sport on Lake 
Champlain are justly indignant over the laxity of the en - 
forcernent of the game and fish laws up that way. It us 
asserted by reputable anglers that the natives both from 
the New York and the Vermont shores of the lake are 
accustomed to come out in the spring as early as the black 
bass reach the spawning beds and fish for them viith great 
