314 THE OCEAN. 



capable of being lowered or elevated by a rope which 

 proceeds from the fork. A man sits in the high 

 stern, holding this rope in his hand, and watching 

 the capture of the fishes. From the end of the pro- 

 jecting arms depends the line, with the pearl-hook 

 fashioned to resemble the Flying-fish. To increase 

 the deception, bunches of feathers are fastened to 

 the tips of the arms, to represent those aquatic 

 birds which habitually follow the Flying-fish in its 

 course, to seize it in the air. The presence of 

 these birds is so sure an indication of the position 

 of the fish, that the fishermen hasten to the spot 

 where they are seen hovering in the air. The canoe 

 skims rapidly along, rising and falling on the waves, 

 by which a similar motion is communicated to the 

 hook, which skips along, sometimes out and some- 

 times in the water, while the plumes of feathers 

 flutter immediately above. The artifice rarely fails 

 to succeed ; if the bonito perceives the hook, he 

 instantly engages in pursuit, and if he misses his 

 grasp, perseveres until he has seized it. The mo- 

 ment the man in the stern perceives the capture, 

 he hoists the crane, and the fish is dragged in, 

 and thrown into a sort of long basket, suspended 

 between the two canoes. The crane is then lowered 

 again, and all is ready for another candidate. 



Yet another mode of fishing, not wanting in in- 

 genuity, is adopted by the inhabitants of the Samoa 

 group. A number of hollow floats, about eight 

 inches in height, and the same in diameter, are at- 

 tached to a stout cord, a short distance apart. To 

 each of them a line is attached, about a foot in 



