The Euxine, however, is never entered by any animal2345 that is noxious to fish, with the exception of the sea-calf and the small dolphin. On entering, the tunnies range along2346 the shores to the right, and on departing, keep to those on the left; this is supposed to arise from the fact that they have better sight with the right eye, their powers of vision with either being naturally very limited. In the channel of the Thracian Bosporus, by which the Propontis is connected with the Euxine, at the narrowest part of the Straits which separate Europe from Asia, there is, near Chalcedon, on the Asiatic side, a rock of remarkable whiteness, the whole of which can be seen from the bottom of the sea at the surface. Alarmed at the sudden appearance of this rock, the tunnies always hasten in great numbers, and with headlong impetuosity, towards the promontory of Byzantium, which stands exactly opposite to it, and from this circumstance has received the name of the Golden Horn.2347 Hence it is, that all the fishing is at Byzantium, to the great loss of Chalcedon,2348 although it is only separated from it by a channel a mile in width. They wait, however, for the blowing of the north wind to leave the Euxine with a favourable tide, and are never taken until they have entered the harbour of Byzantium. These fish do not move about in winter;2349 in whatever place they may happen to be surprised by it, there they pass the winter, till the time of the equinox.

Manifesting a wonderful degree of delight, they will often accompany a vessel in full sail, and may be seen from the poop following it for hours, and a distance of several miles. If a fish-spear even is thrown at them ever so many times, they are not in the slightest degree alarmed at it. Some writers call the tunnies which follow ships in this manner, by the name of “pompili.”2350

Many fishes pass the summer in the Propontis, and do not enter the Euxine; such, for instance, as the sole,2351 while on the other hand, the turbot2352 enters it. The sepia2353 is not found in this sea, although the loligo2354 is. Among the rock-fish, the sea-thrush2355 and the sea-blackbird are wanting, as also purples, though oysters abound here. All these, however, pass the winter in the Ægean Sea; and of those which enter the Euxine, the only ones that do not2356 return are the trichiæ.2357—It will be as well to use the Greek names which most of them bear, seeing that to the same species different countries have given different appellations.—These last, however, are the only ones that enter the river Ister,2358 and passing along its subterraneous passages, make their way from it to the Adriatic;2359 and this is the reason why they are to be seen descending into the Euxine Sea, but never in the act of returning from it. The time for taking tunnies is, from the rising of the Vergiliæ2360 to the setting of Arcturus:2361 throughout the rest of the winter season, they lie concealed at the bottom of deep creeks, unless they are induced to come out by the warmth of the weather or the full moon. These fish fatten2362 to such an extraordinary degree as to burst. The longest period of their life2363 is two years.