330 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. 



dart can never penetrate to a vital organ, unless it should happen to pierce the spinal cord. At 

 the present time the dugong is almost invariably speared from luggers, as these vessels are 

 so much more convenient to handle than canoes. 



"The stage, or ^ ncct' is only employed on moonlight nights. A man would walk on the 

 reefs at low tide in the daytime, to watch for traces of the dugong. When he found a patch 

 of 'dugong grass' which had been partially browsed, he would erect the staging there, knowing 

 that the dugong would repair nightly to the same spot until the fodder was exhausted. The 

 stage was constructed of six bamboo poles lashed together, surmounted by the steering-board of 

 the canoe ; and on this the rope was coiled and the spear put in readiness ; and all night the man 

 would perch on this board awaiting the arrival of the dugong. When it approached sufficiently 

 near it was speared as above. Usually a wooden or stone image of a dugong would be slung on 

 the neet, to serve as a charm to ensure the approach of the animal." 



The subject of Worms is not, at first sight, one fraught with great possibilities. Mr. 

 Darwin, however, has shown that their latent potentialities are sufficiently considerable to 

 furnish the worthy theme for an immortal volume. Brief reference has also been made in 

 a previous chapter to a Tasmanian worm, Magascolidcs Tasnianicui, of such magnificent proportions 

 — a length of three or four feet, with a diameter of an inch or more — that it would, seemingly, 

 possess substantial economic properties. These worms, however, are scarcely eligible, as their 

 dimensions might deceptively suggest, for relegation to the cuisine, or for presentation at 

 the luncheon or breakfast-table in the form of sausages or stewed eels ; their substantiality, 

 when put to the test, consisting, as it wei-e, of a mere sausage-skin crammed full of their 

 native soil. The only satisfaction, in point of fact, that the author was able to extract from 

 specimens sent him from a Tasmanian, Ringarooma, district, was the enjoyment of their 

 society in lieu, say, of that of a dog or of a cat, during a constitutional stroll at early morn 

 or dew}' eve on the homely grass-plot. Worms, nevertheless, in far-off Fiji and the neighbouring 

 districts, represent one of the most appetising gastronomic delicacies, and the signs are not alto- 

 gether wanting that the Great Barrier region can produce its own choice brand of the same 

 dainty. The worm alluded to in this connection is, of necessity, the famous " Palolo," Palola 

 viridis, probably not unknown to many Australians ; and with respect to the phenomena that 

 attend its appearance and its method of capture, the following brief account may be given, in 

 introduction to the discussion of its Barrier Reef representative. 



"The delicacy known as Palolo is a small marine worm, allied to the genus Nereis, that at a 

 certain season of the year appears in vast shoals on the surface of the sea in the vicinity of Samoa, 

 Tonga, Fiji, and other of the Pacific islands. It is regarded by the natives as one of the daintiest 

 luxuries their territories produce. The epoch of the Palolos' appearance is reported to be 

 confined to two days only in the months of October and November, these being the day before, 

 and the day upon which, the moon enters the last quarter. In anticipation of the forthcoming 



