st. Paul's rocks. 71 



the fish up fronl the bottom with difficulty because they were 

 always rushed at by voracious sharks. 



In the evening volunteers for fishing were called for, and I 

 went in the jolly-boat with about six officers and four or five 

 men. A cutter full of men also put off. We made fast to the 

 line across the bay, and for a long time got nothing, till at 

 last, when we were getting tired, one man caught a shark, about 

 three feet long, and we all got good bait from him. 



Then we caught more sharks, and it was at last discovered 

 that we ought to have been fishing at the surface, and not at the 

 bottom. As soon as we took the sinkers off our lines and 

 allowed the baits to float we began to haul in large fish, some of 

 them 20 lbs. in weight, as fast as possible. The fish were 

 " Cavalli " (= seahorse ?) — a species of Caranx, which is allied to 

 our mackerel, and very good to eat. 



The fish were very game, and pulled hard, making phosphor- 

 escent flashes as they dashed about in the water under the boat, 

 it being now dark. Every now and then someone hooked a 

 shark (Car char ias sp), and then there was a tremendous fight, 

 and all the lines in the boat were tangled and fouled as the big 

 fish rushed around. At last it either broke the line, or was 

 hauled on board. When the latter was the case everyone stood 

 clear, whilst the shark hammered in its flurry the thwarts and 

 bottom of the boat, till they resounded. At last its tail was cut, 

 and it was then soon slit up into bait pieces. 



Sometimes, a tremendous sudden pull was felt at one's line, 

 and it went fizzing through one's fingers without possibility of 

 checking it. The only thing to be done was to take a turn 

 round a belaying pin. Then came a check, and the line broke 

 right off, without even a momentary struggle, and some big- 

 shark went off with hook and bait, without probably noticing 

 anything the matter. We returned to the ship at 12 P.M., with 

 enough fish to give the whole ship's company a breakfast. 



In the morning I went to a white peak on the western side of 

 the bay. This rock forms the home of the boobies, which are 

 not nearly so numerous as the noddies, and seem to be almost 

 restricted to this one peak out of the five of which the islands 

 are made up. 



