| OCR Text |
Show # H I S T 0 R y 0 F M E X I C 0. body, like the f.1w-fifh. It move~ this fword at pleafure, ':Vith great force and employs it as an offenfive weapon. . Of the two ipecies of faw-- fiih to be found in thofe feas, the one JS that common one known to Pliny , a' nd defcribed by fo many natu~ l .i1: ~The other which is about a foot in length, has a row of ra t s. ' . h b . d . h .teet l1 or pn·c klcs like a faw , upon .i ts back, wluch as o tame 1t t e name of 'J'Iateconi, from the Mextcans, and from the Spaniards that .of Si~rra. The Roballo is one of the moil: numerous fp ecies, and nffords the rnoft delicate food, efpecially the kind peculiar to riv rs. I~Iernandez took this fiih to be the fame with the Lupw of the anctcnts, and Campoi imagined it to be the Afellus Minor ; but this mu~ have been .altogether con jeeture, for the dcfcri ption s _of thofc fi{h l_eh us. b! the ancients are fo imperfeCt, that it is impofhble to afcertam thea· Iden·- tity. . The Gobbo (called by the Spaniards Corcoboda), was fo .called from . a rifing or prominence reaching from the neck to the mouth, which latter part is exceedingly fmall. The Sfirena h ad likewife the nam~ of Picuda (which we might tr.anflate long-fi1out), from the lower pw being longer than the u ppcr. T he Rofpo is a very difitgreeable fi{h to look at ; of a perfeCtly round 1hape, three or four inches in diameter, and without fcnles. It affords a pleafim"t wholcfome food. An ong the eels there is one called Huitzitr::.z"!michin by the Mexican , which is about three feet long and very fiender: Its bcdy is covered with a fort of fmall plates, inil:ead of fcales. The fi10ut is about eight inches in length, with the upper jaw longer than the lower, in whi h it differs from all other eels, which this fpccies likewiic furpafies, as well in the ddica y of its fleih as in the iize of its body. The Bob0, is a very fine fi01, about two feet long, and four or fix inches broad at the broadefl: part; and is in high eficcm as an excellent food. The river Barbel, known by the name of Dagre, is of the fame fize with the Bobo, and of. exquifite fhvo ur, but unwholefome till it is cleanfcd with lemon juice, or fame other acid, .fl·om a certain kind of froth or vifcid liquor which adh res to it. ·The H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. The Bobos, I believe are got only in the rivers which fall in to the B O 0 K I. Mexican gulf, and the Barbels in thofe which difcharge themfelves '--v---1 into lakes, or into the Pacific Ocean. The fleih of thefe two kinds, although very delicate, does not equal that of the Pampano, and the Colombella, which are defervedly efteemed fuperior to all others. The Curvina is about a foot and a half long, of a fiender, round ihape, and of a blackilh purple colour. In the head of this .filh are found, two fmall, whitejl:ones like alabafter, each an inch and a half long, and about four lines broad, of which three grains taken in water, are thought to be ufeful in a ftoppage of urine. The Botetto is a finall .fiih, not more than eight inches in length, but 'exceffively thick. This .fiih, while it lies alive upon the beach, immediately [wells, whenever it is touched, to an enormous fize; and boys often take pleafure in making it burft with a kick. The liver is fo poifonous as to kill with ftrong convulfions in half an hour after it is eaten • The Occhione ( u), is a .flat, round fiih of eight or ten inches di: uneter. The underpart of the body is perfeCtly .flat, but the upper i.s convex; and in the center, which is the higheft part, it has a fingle eye as large as that of an ox, and fl}rniihed with its nece!fary eye-lids. · The eye remains open even afte.r it is dead, which fometimcs creates a degree of horror to a fpeCtator ( x). The Iztacmichin, or white fifh, has always been in great repute in Mexico, and is now as common at the Spanifh tables as it uled to be anciently at thofe of the Mexicans. 1 here are three or four fpecies. The Ami/ot/, which is the largefi and the moil: efteemed, is more than a foot in length, and has two fins upon the back, two at the tides, and one under the belly. The .Xalmichin feems to be of the fam·e kind with the former, but not quite f0 brge. The Jacapitzahuac, wbic:h is the fmallei1: kind, is not more than eight . . (J1) This fifh, which is only found i[). Californi;J, either has no name, or we, at leaf!', are not acquainted with it; for which reafon we hilve given it one, we think, fuffic:icnrly a.pplicnble, namely, that of Occhione. (~') Ciimpoi was pcrfuadl·d that the Occhione is the Umnnjcopor, or Callionymos of Pliny: bur J>liny has not. left any defcription of that fifh. The name of U.·anofi·opns, wh ich was the only founcl :ttion of Cam poi's op.inion, is equally npplicable to all thofe fifl1 which, havin,g cycu · \lpon the head, look upw;1rils to the fky, fuch as fkates', nnd other flat fi!h • ·VoL. I. K inches • I |
