('Kl'IlAL(M'(tl).S AS FUUD. ',);) 



anil then luiulher, and so on, until it is ([iiitc fastened among tlio 

 openings between the pieces oi" the cowrie, when it is drawn up 

 into the canoe and secured.* 



A species of Ommastrephes is extensively lished in Ja[)an. 

 ]\lr. Arthur Adams related that otf Nisi-Bama in the Oki Islands, 

 he saw a number of lights moving upon the surface of the water, in 

 all directions, which he found were used to attract the cei)halopods 

 to the surface ; where they were secured by a jig, an iron shank 

 terminated by a circle of recurved hooks. Mr. Adams visited a 

 small lishing village near the Hakodadi, where he saw hundreds 

 of thousands of squids, cleaned and stretched on iTamboo sticks, 

 suspended on lines to dr}' in the sun and air. 



The natives of the New Hel)rides, New Caledonia, and the Fee- 

 gee group of islands, capture the Xautilus, and use it as an article 

 of food. They take them in their flsh-falls, in from three to tive 

 fathoms of water ; the bait they use is the Echinus. They are 

 very Ibnd of them. In some of the islands they make a kind of 

 sou[) of them. At the Island of Ware, about 30 miles from New 

 Caledonia, they are roasted, and taste like whelks (Buccinum). 



The Feegeans esteem the Pearly Nautilus highly as an agree- 

 able viand, and their mode of capturing it for the embers or the 

 pot, is not a little interesting. When the water is smooth, so 

 that the bottom at several fathoms of depth, near the border of 

 tile reef, may be distinctly seen, the fisherman in his little frail 

 canoe scrutinizes the sands and the coral masses below, to dis- 

 cover the animal in its favorite haunts. The experienced eye of 

 ihe native may pro])ably encounter it in its usual position, cling- 

 ing to some prominent ledge, with the shell turned downwards. 

 The tackle consists, iirst, of a large round wicker-work basket, 

 shaped \'ery much like a cage rat-trap, having an opening above, 

 with a circlet of points directed inwards, so as to permit of entry, 

 ])ut preclude escape; secondly, a rough piece of native rope, of 

 stiiHeient length to reach the Ijottom ; and thirdly, a small i)iece 

 of branched wood, with tiu' branches sharpened to form a sort of 

 gra|)nel. to which a i)erforated 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 



Lovell's Edible British Mollusks," p. 167. 



