c. 1620.—
"How many sail of well-mann'd ships
As the Bonito does the Flying-fish
Have we pursued...."
Beaum. & Flet., The Double Marriage, ii. 1.
c. 1760.—"The fish undoubtedly takes its name from relishing so well to the taste of the Portuguese ... that they call it Bonito, which answers in our tongue to delicious."—Grose, i. 5.
1764.—
"While on the yard-arm the harpooner sits,
Strikes the boneta, or the shark ensnares."—Grainger, B. ii.
1773.—"The Captain informed us he had named his ship the Bonnetta, out of gratitude to Providence; for once ... the ship in which he then sailed was becalmed for five weeks, and during all that time, numbers of the fish Bonnetta swam close to her, and were caught for food; he resolved therefore that the ship he should next get should be called the Bonnetta."—Boswell, Journal of a Tour, &c., under Oct. 16, 1773.