TREPANG-FISHING 341 
western monsoon to the eastern parts of the Indian Archipelago, 
or along the northern coast of Australia, return home again by 
favour of the eastern monsoon. The bays of the inhospitable 
treeless shores of tropical New Holland, the abode of a few half- 
starved barbarians, are enlivened for a few months by the 
presence of the trepang fishers. 
“During my excursions round Raffles Bay,” says Dumont 
d’Urville, (“‘ Voyage to the South Pole,”) “I had remarked here 
and there small heaps of stones surrounding a circular space. 
Their use remained a mystery until the Malayan fishers arrived. 
Scarce had their praos cast anchor, when without loss of time 
they landed large iron kettles, about three feet in diameter, and 
placed them on the stone heaps, the purpose of which at once 
became clear tome. Close to this extemporised kitchen they 
then erected a shed on four bamboo stakes, most likely for the 
purpose of drying the holothurias in case of bad weather. To- 
wards evening, all preliminaries were finished, and the following 
morning we paid a visit to the fishermen, who gave usa friendly 
reception. Each prao had thirty-seven men on board, and carried 
six boats, which we found busily engaged in fishing. Seven or 
eigbt Malays, almost entirely naked, were diving near the ship, 
to look for trepang at the bottom of the sea. The skipper alone 
stood upright, and surveyed their labours with the keen eye of a 
master. A burning sun scorched the dripping heads of the divers, 
seemingly without incommoding them; no European would have 
been able to pursue the work for any length of time. It was 
about noon, and the skipper told us this was the best time for 
fishing, as the higher the sun, the more distinctly the diver is able 
to distinguish the trepang crawling at the bottom. Scarce had 
they thrown their booty into the boat when they disappeared 
again under the water, and as soon as a boat was sufficiently 
laden, it was instantly conveyed to the shore, and succeeded by 
another. 
“The holothuria of Raffles Bay is about six inches long, and 
two inches thick. It forms a large cylindrical fleshy mass, 
almost without any outward sign of an organ, and as it creeps 
very slowly along is easily caught. The essential qualities of a 
good fisherman are great expertness in diving, and a sharp eye 
to distinguish the holothurias from the similarly coloured sea- 
bottom. 
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