NOTES ON FISHING METHODS OF THE SOUTH SEAS. 781 
were made of koa wood, 3 inches long, 1 inch in diameter, and 10 feet 
apart. On the foot line were fastened pieces of coral. The head and 
foot ropes are made of the usual cocoanut fiber, the webbing of some 
native material unknown to us. 
In some respects the Niue canoe is different from any heretofore 
examined, particularly in ornamental display. It also has a crowning 
deck 8 feet forward and 7 feet aft. The main body is practically the 
same as found at many other islands; that is, the bottom is dug from 
a single log, the top is made of several pieces, and the two parts are 
joined together with cocoanut-fiber twine; pandanus leaf between the 
seams, covered with a white pitchy substance. On account of the 
scarcity of logs of suitable size the bottom is solid and the top is built 
up of strips. 
At the place where we landed there were several canoes hauled high 
up on the bluff, there being no beach on this part of the island, and as 
the fringing reef is narrow it affords‘no protection. The canoes were 
covered with heavy matting and palm leaves to protect them from the 




AZ 

Sketch of Half Canoe, Savage Island. 
sun. Seeing that we were interested in the canoes, the natives gave 
every opportunity to photograph and take measurements, and were 
apparently pleased that we were interested in things which they 
possessed. The large canoe measured 25 feet over all; decked over 
forward and aft, the deck hewn out of a solid piece, carved on the top 
and sides; width of canoe, 16 inches at the gunwales and 18 inches 
where the top and bottom join together; depth, 13 inches; outrigger 
float, 10 feet long, 54 feet from the side; outrigger frame, consisting 
of 3 crosspieces 3 feet apart, fastened to the gunwales with coir sen- 
nit and connected to the float by stanchions 12 inches high. In the 
canoe under each crosspiece was a spreader, consisting of a withe bow 
bent in, the top or ends about an inch above the gunwales, the bow 
part raised from the bottom 7 inches. The bottom of the canoe being 
solid, no strengthening timbers were needed. Hanging to the outside 
gunwales was a single row of sea shells, all of one species and evenly 
matched as to size. There was nothing in this and other canoes exam- 
ined to indicate that sails are used. 
The people of this island do not seem to depend so much on fish as 
those living on atolls. Here the ground is more productive and fur- 
nishes food in abundance, 
