98 
THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
scraped until only the tough skin remains. This is very bright, the belly 
pieces being mostly used, and, when properly put on the hook, will last for 
some hours’ fishing. Each boat is provided with a large number of empty 
barrels, into which the fish are thrown when caught. During the time that a 
school is biting, an expert fisherman, handling a dozen lines, may take 2500 
fish in the course 
of six or eight 
hours. Usually, 
however, the fish 
are so erratic that 
they cease biting 
in two or three 
hours. 
The Tunny 
(Orcynus thy fi¬ 
rms) , also called 
horse mackerel , is 
a member of the 
mackerel family, 
and much the 
largest of that genera, if not indeed the largest of all coy fishes. Speci¬ 
mens have been taken along the American shores that weighed fifteen 
hundred pounds, though this size is quite uncommon. In shape the tunny 
is very like a mackerel, and the body gleams with a silvery sheen, the 
upper half being of a lustrous steel-blue and the lower a pearl white. 
Though the fins show no surprising development, it is a very rapid 
swimmer, and takes its prey from 
every species of fish found in its 
habitat, even gorging dog-fish of eight 
pounds weight, and making bold attacks 
on the dolphin. While its flesh is solid 
and said to be good for food, especially 
in southern Europe, the Americans 
seldom eat it. The tunny is neverthe¬ 
less caught in great numbers for no 
other purpose than the oil it yields, as 
much as twenty-three gallons having 
been rendered out from a single fish. 
The means employed for its capture 
is generally that of harpooning, but in 
the Mediterranean, where the fishing 
for this species is carried on more ex¬ 
tensively, they are taken in immense 
numbers by means of special nets strung on upright posts set in a large flooring, 
that after being baited and left in a proper spot for some days, is lifted by means of 
capstans on steamboats that are used for fishing purposes, until the fish within 
are brought to the surface and there killed with sharp hooks and spears. 
The Bonito (Sarda mediterranean), also belongs to the mackerel family, and 
is found on both sides of the Atlantic. It bears a close resemblance to the tunny, 
coral fish. (Chcetodon meyeri). 
TUNNY. 
