802 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
but at high tide in stormy weather the sea must pour into the lagoon 
with great force. Outside the channels is a fringing reef platform on 
which are many pools. We subsequently learned that this reef is one 
of the favorite fishing-places on this side of the atoll. 
The ship came to anchor in the lagoon off Butaritari, a village of 
considerable importance in this region. In the evening collecting was 
performed by the aid of the electric surface light. Besides a large 
quantity of crustacea we captured a considerable number of verte- 
brates. Two bonitos were caught on hook and line. 
The following day a seaman of the A/batross accompanied Mr. 
Palmer, a merchant of the village, and several natives to one of the 
outer reefs to fish with dynamite. It is unlawful for a native to use 
explosives in taking fish unless in company with a white man. The 
seaman brought back between 40 or 50 small fish and 11 larger ones, 
varying from 6 to 12 inches in length. Twelve varieties were taken, 
and samples of each were placed in alcohol. Hand-line fishing and the 
use of wire traps and crab nets proved a failure. 
The people of this group have always been credited with being the 
best fishermen and using the greatest variety of fishing apparatus of 
any natives in the South Seas. We unfortunately found but little 
fishing gear of any kind. Two wickerwork fish-traps, nearly the 
same pattern as those seen at Funafuti, were purchased. 
We were informed that the scarcity of native fishing apparatus 
among these people is due largely to traders, there being many 
stationed in various parts of the atoll, who discourage native manu- 
facture and lead the people to either forget how or not care to make 
any article which may be substituted at the store by something inferior 
in quality but sold for a high price. 
The canoes of Tari-Tari differ in some respects from those of 
Apamama and Tarawa. They are more nearly like the canoe of Mar- 
aki; that is, the bottom is one solid piece of wood, and the sides and 
top are planked. Two canoes were being built in the village, a depar- 
ture from the original type, flat on the bottom and made of 13-inch 
boards. The first strake was also boards ond flaring outward like a dory. 
This type is comparatively new in canoe-making and was probably 
introduced by the traders. Above the garboard strake the planking is 
put on in the manner of the Apamama canoe. <A canoe of this kind 
is much better adapted to landing on a rough beach or reef than one 
with a fragile bottom. 
In a village a few miles from Butaritari were a number of canoes 
that had been given a coat of coal tar. 
