256 NATURAL SCIENCE [October 
A straw rope with a few stems of straw, put between strands of 
the rope and suspended at regular intervals, forms the outer part. 
The end of these straw stems nearly touch the ground. ‘The 
middle part forms the greater portion of the pound-net, and is 
made of a netting which is stretched between bamboo sticks 
to form a barrier. The central part is short. Its essential 
portion consists of three wooden boards, placed in the shape 
of the letter U. The space between the boards and the ground is 
cautiously closed by a netting. To catch fish, three or four persons 
row a small boat very swiftly, and at the same time drive scattered 
fish by beating the surface of water with oars or poles. When the 
boat comes near the end of the net, whence it cannot go further, a 
man comes out of the boat and continues the driving in the same 
way, wading towards the centre of the net. The fish are at last 
compelled to leap to clear the barrier, and are caught by the boards. 
This net is used in a shallow ground at the outlet of a brackish 
lake. The mouth of the net faces the outlet of the lake. 
There is another kind of pound-net (fig. 4) used in a shallow bay 
where there is a great difference in the height of water between the 
flood and ebb tides. It is a very long net, set by means of poles, 
parallel to the coast line, and bent towards the coast at both ends. 
There is a fold, or a series of pockets, which runs through the whole 
length of the net at its middle part. The mouth of the pocket opens 
towards the coast. When the tide recedes, the upper part of the net 
is bent backward to form a roof. The roof is supported by a series 
of floats. Fish are entangled in the pockets, or caught on the roof- 
like part. 
The hand net (fig. 5).—This is a simple apparatus, but the 
method of using it is somewhat interesting. It is trapezoid in shape; 
its upper and lower margins are strengthened by ropes, and the two 
slanting sides by bamboo poles. This net is used on the shallow 
