18 I. IJIMA : HEXACTINELLIDA. I. 



of the hands superintends the picking up of the baited hooks 

 that are thrown out one by one in succession. AVhen the first 

 basket is emptied, the main-line is tied to that of the next, and 

 so oil, until the intended number of baskets are empty. During 

 the above process, stone-sinkers are fastened here and there to 

 the lines, being for the most part simply slung in loops of 

 strings so as to fall off the instant they strike the bottom and 

 thus avoid increasing the difficulty of hauling in the lines. The 

 laying out is finished by giving off a second perpendicular rope, 

 which, like the first, carries a buoy at its upper end. 



After from half an hour to an hour, the hauling in of the 

 lines begins at the end marked by the first buoy. If by acci- 

 dent the cordage breaks during the hauling in, the other buoy 

 is sought and the process is renewed in the opposite direction. 

 The same bad luck may again occur, leaving perhaps hundreds 

 of meters of the dabo -line helpless on the bottom. On one such 

 occasion in my own experience, I had to give np fifteen basket- 

 fuls at once. My boat was at the time being overtaken by an 

 unpleasant squall, and, to say the truth, I felt much relieved by 

 the misfortune, for it had become decidedly uncomfortable to 

 prolong our stay on the angry waves. If the familiar land- 

 marks be visible, the fishermen know the exact place where their 

 lost line is lying, and if it be of a length w^ortli the trouble, 

 attempts are made to recover it and generally with success. 

 Either a certain amount of the dabo-Iine on hand is dragged 

 over the lost section for that special purpose or dabo-lining is 

 started afresh, laying out the new line so as to trail across the 

 lost one, thus combining the process of rescue with the routine 

 work of fishing. Even in the latter case, the line on the bottom 

 is subjected to a considerable dragging movement as the result 



