118 



fish that had been harpooned. The Ameni fishermen say, 

 however, that they don't catch many as the bonito, being a 

 surface fish, will not take the bait on the lines they use for 

 bottom fish and, save harpooning, they do not know any other 

 device for catching this fish ! 



124. The plankton collected off Ameni was particularly 

 abundant, ranging from 50 c.c. to 135 e.c. in volume for 

 a fifteen minutes haul on the surface. Shoals of schizopods, 

 copepods, and sagittae were characteristic and so abundant as 

 to make this locality an excellent feeding place for small fishes. 

 The quantity taken per haul was much greater than either at 

 Chetlat or Kiltan and is probably due to the large extent of 

 shallow water south-west of the island. 



125. On SOth November we left for Androth at 5-30 a.m. 

 experiencing an adverse current running to the west-north- 

 west on the way, strength about f knot per hour ; it was 5 p.m. 

 before we anchored abreast the landing place which is near the 

 western end on the north side of the island. As soon as possible 

 we went ashore, and found that a deep channel had recently 

 been blasted through the fringing reef making this the easiest 

 and safest landing we had used ; vessels drawing 10 feet may 

 anchor close in. There is no true lagoon at Androth, the 

 fringing reef being uneven and much interrupted in places and 

 usually very close to shore. While we were ashore we were 

 fortunate enough to see some night-fishing boats prepare and 

 leave for the fishing grounds. The men were going lining 

 and harpooning, and we thus had an opportunity to make an 

 inventory of their gear. It consisted of — 



(a) four white cotton lines each with one large hook 

 attached by two sections of wire, 



(b) a harpoon of the usual form, 



{c) twenty-five bundles of coconut leaves, each bound 

 round tightly at intervals to form a rude torch, 



(d) a large number of small coral stones, 



(e) a bundle of fine coconut leaf fibre. 



The torches are used to make flares to attract fish round 

 the boat while the stones are intended to carry the hook 

 quickly to the bottom. Should large fish be attracted by the 

 light, then the harpoon is employed. 



126. The next day the various descriptions of nets and 

 fishing devices used in the island were brought together for 



