SEA SNAKES 



89 



Indian fishermen in their primitive craft made from three tree-trunks of a special kind of light- 

 weight wood. 



a light that evening than we caught the first sea snake, and before long 

 they were pouring in at such a rate that we had to make use of everything 

 the Galathea possessed in the way of aquaria and tubs until such time as 

 they could be killed and preserved. On that and the following day we had 

 a total haul of 40 snakes belonging to six different species, and from then 

 until we arrived at Singapore we made catches, though not in such large 

 numbers, each time we entered shallow waters. Sea snakes were occasion- 

 ally caught also after my return home, particularly in the shallow Gulf 

 of Siam, which has long been noted for its profusion of snakes. The last 

 were taken in the Gulf of Panama, though the sole species known here 

 is the above-mentioned pelagic species, Pelamis platurus, the only sea 

 snake that has crossed the Pacific. It is strange to think that this species 

 stands at two points on the threshold of the still snake-less Atlantic - — - at 

 the southern tip of Africa and at the Isthmus of Panama, where, theore- 

 tically at least, it should have a chance of slipping through the Panama 

 Canal. 



The catching of sea snakes is an extremely simple matter. When the 

 ship is lying still they will drift towards you on the current, lying motion- 

 less in the surface water. When they come within reach you thrust a net 



