58 NAUTILIDA. 
Island, Fiji group. It was very lively, swimming around in a 
tub, in a retrograde direction, by the ejection of water from the 
funnel. The tentacles were extended radially from the head, 
somewhat like those of a sea anemone; but each pair had its 
definite and different direction, which was constantly maintained ; 
thus one pair of tentacles was held pointing directly downwards, 
two other pairs, situate just before and behind the eyes, were 
held projecting obliquely outwards and forwards, and backwards 
respectively, as if to protect the organs of sight. 
The natives of the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Fiji 
group of islands, capture the Nautilus, and use it as an article 
of food. They take them in their fish-falls, in from three to five 
fathoms of water; the bait they use is the echinus. They are 
very fond of them. In some of the islands they make a kind 
of soup of them. At the Island of Ware, about 30 miles from 
New Caledonia, they are roasted, and taste like whelks (Buc- 
cinum). 
The Fijians esteem the Pearly Nautilus highly as an agreeable 
viand, and their mode of capturing it for the embers or the pot 
is not alittle interesting. When the water is smooth, so that the 
bottom at several fathoms of depth, near the border of the reef, 
may be distinctly seen, the fisherman in his little frail canoe 
serutinizes the sands and the coral masses below, to discover the 
animal in its favorite haunts. The experienced eye of the native 
may probably encounter it in its usual position, clinging to some 
prominent ledge, with the shell turned downwards. The tackle 
consists, first, of a large round wicker-work basket, shaped very 
much like a cage rat-trap, having an opening above, with a circlet 
of points directed inwards, so as to permit of entry, but preclude 
escape; secondly, a rough piece of native rope, of sufficient 
length to reach the bottom; and thirdly, a small piece of branched 
wood, with the branches sharpened to form a sort of grapnel, to 
which a perforated stone is attached, answering the purpose of 
a sinker. The basket is now weighted with stones, well-baited 
with boiled cray-fish, and then dropped gently down near the 
victim. The trap is now either closely watched, or a mark is 
placed upon the spot, and the fisherman pursues his avocation 
upon other parts of the reef, until a certain period has elapsed, 
when he returns, and in all probability finds the Nautilus in his 
cage feeding upon the bait. The grapnel is now carefully let 
down, and having entered the basket through the opening on 
top, a dexterous movement of the hand fixes one or more of the 
points or hooks, and the prize is safely hoisted into the canoe. 
The Pearly Nautilus is not found at the Navigator group of 
islands in the South Seas, and the shells form there an important 
article of exchange. They are brought by European vessels from 
New Caledonia and the Fiji Islands as articles of trade, and are 
