780 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
and extends to within 4 inches of the bottom; diameter of lead, 54 
inches. The bait is fastened at the top between the lead and the inner 
side of the trap. A door opens on the side. In order for a fish to 
reach the bait it must pass through the funnel out into the trap and 
then to the top. When once through the funnel it is very difficult for 
a fish to escape. The traps are set in various depths of water, in the 
lagoon, on the reef, and outside. Stones are fastened to the bottom to 
anchor them. Instead of a single buoy at the surface to mark the 
spot where set, pieces of wood about 7 inches long are attached to the 
buoy line about 5 or 6 feet apart. A string of these floats, reaching 
from the surface to the bottom, is attached to each trap. Why one 
large surface buoy is not used instead of so many small ones we were 
unable to learn. 
The canoes observed on this island do not differ, except in a few 
minor points, from those of Tahiti and many of the islands in the Pau- 
motu group. At the first glance it was quite evident that the style 
and finish had undergone a change from the original; they lacked many 
qualities found in canoes at isolated islands. One canoe measured 13 
feet long, 13 inches wide at the gunwale, and 16 inches at the water 
line. The original shape of the log had been retained amidships, which 
accounts for the difference in width. Both bow and stern turned up, 
commencing at the water line and carried out almost to a point. A 
deck covered the forward part 23 feet and on the after end 14 inches. 
There were mast steps both fore and aft; mast partners on the after 
side of crosspieces. Outrigger 6 feet from the side; outrigger float 
12 feet long, 6 inches wide, and 4 inches thick, turned up at each end. 
Crosspieces of frame 7 feet apart and connected to the float by pins 
or stanchions, consisting of a tree branch, the butt ends wedged into 
holes cut in the float and the crosspieces seized to them. No brace of 
any kind to strengthen frame. As little work as possible seems to 
have been performed on the canoes of this island, and that in the most 
careless manner. This arises from the fact that whale boats have been 
in use here for many years. 
NIUE OR SAVAGE ISLAND. 
We arrived at this island November 25 and landed at Alofi village 
on the northwest side. There are ten other villages, two of which are 
considerably larger than Alofi. The total population of the island is 
about 4,000. We saw nothing to indicate that any great amount of 
fishing is carried on. There is no barrier reef to form a lagoon, and 
the fringing reef on this side of the island being narrow, the oppor- 
tunities for extensive fishing are limited. 
The only fishing apparatus observed was a net 60 feet long, 6 feet 
deep, with a 2-inch mesh. It could have been used either as a drag 
seine or gill net, but was probably put to the former use. ‘The floats 
