MACKERELS. 
117 
|i 
to eighteen feet and a correspondent bulk, and 
i usually swims in large shoals, ranging near the 
I shore, the pursuit of the species forms one of 
I the most valuable fisheries of the south of Europe, 
j The circumstances attending its capture, as re- 
Ij corded by MM. Cuvier and Valenciennes, are so 
I interesting that we make no apology for pre- 
1 senting them to our readers. These fishes are 
I taken in two principal modes. In the one, when- 
ever a sentinel, posted on an eminence for the 
} purpose, has indicated to the fishermen that the 
I Tunnies are coming, and has shown the direction 
i| of their approach, a number of boats set off under 
the command of a captain, and having arranged 
I themselves in a semicircle, unite their nets to 
i form a common enclosure. The Tunnies, alarmed, 
I huddle together in closer array, while the line of 
nets being rapidly lengthened by additions at each 
1 end, gradually drives the shoal more and more 
I in shore. At length, when the fishes have been 
i forced so near the land, that the water is only 
I a few fathoms deep, the fishermen cast a large 
i net terminating in a lengthened conical pocket; 
this they presently haul on shore inclosing the 
I whole shoal of fishes. The largest are killed 
while in the water, with poles and gaffs, the small 
I ones are carried up to the beach in the fishermen’s 
arms. Fifteen tons’ weight of Tunnies are some- 
j times taken at a single haul in this manner, on the 
coast of Languedoc. 
! The other mode of fishing is with a complex 
j apparatus of nets, called by the French the ma- 
I drague^ by the Italians, the tonnaro. It is an ex- 
: pensive affair, consisting of a double row of large 
I long nets, made to hang vertically in the water by 
