NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE 



325 



posterior half of the worm is set free, to swim to the surface for 

 the "wedding-dance" in which fertiHzation takes place. These 

 free-swimming portions are really no more than sperm-and-egg 

 cases which discharge their products and disintegrate in a few 

 hours. They are highly prized as food by the natives, who know 

 in advance on which night they will appear and are always on 

 hand to capture them with dip-nets from their canoes. 



Breadfruit 



The useful breadfruit, larger than a canteloupe, and very starchy, and green bananas 

 when baked are the staple articles of diet in Samoa — not the coconut. 



So on the night of November 23, the first day of the last quarter 

 of the moon, Captain Ault, Graham, and Paul took the dinghy 

 and crossed the harbor to the village of Aua, where the swarm 

 was usually abundant. As the worms would not appear till 

 moonrise, the evening was spent in the native "fales" where 

 excitement reigned, as the torches and dip-nets were prepared. 



