204 THE FISH POT OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA. 



rarely a pot is lifted without containing fisli ; frequently great 

 numbers, eight, ten and twelve dollai's' value, are taken in the large 

 deepset pots at a single haul. 



In isolated cases where a fisherman can command the services of 

 a large canoe, thirty feet or so in length, pots of extra large size 

 are set in deep water down to 100, 120 and more fathoms, and when 

 these are so set they more than repay for extra energy. These deep- 

 sea pots require to be made of extra strength, and as it is only here 

 and there a canoe can be found large enough to work them, they 

 are very few and very far between. 



The fishing canoe is a splendid boat, buoyant as a cork and as 

 staunch as a lifeboat. They are made from the single trunk of the 

 silk cotton tree, the Bomhax cieha of botanists, shaped and dug out 

 by adze and axe, and when properly shaped and thoroughly fitted, 

 which they seldom are, no faster or safer boat exists. 



