KRUUSE FISHERIES ON WEST COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA. 519 



would cease, and the body would burst. Sometimes one end broke off, 

 and then the other ; often both ends would break off at the same time, 

 and a dark brown substance would ooze out. The ring with the fibers 

 would, for a few moments after the body had burst, keep up a wriggling 

 motion. Ifc took about two minutes to extinguish all life in a drop of 

 water poured in a saucer. The motions of the little animals were ex- 

 ceedingly rapid, and could not be seen with the naked eye, as each ani- 

 mal only measured to&tf 01> an i ncn i n length. Their number was pro- 

 digious, every drop of water containing vast quantities. One day we 

 passed through two places where the water was colored, one of them 

 extending over several square miles. What an enormous number of 

 microscopic animals ! The color of the water, seen from a distance, was 

 like that of a river which has a red clayey bottom, whilst nearer the ship 

 it was dark brown, like chocolate. The line of demarkation between the 

 brown and the blue water could be traced very distinctly." 



I will only add that the largest quantity of these microscopic animals 

 which I observed was farther north, in the 6th and 7th degree of south- 

 ern latitude, but there is no doubt that they are found all along the 

 coast, 



The bottom of the sea has scarcely any vegetation. The vast ocean 

 rolls its strong waves towards the coast over a stony or sandy bottom, 

 and this character of the bottom extends far out. How different from 

 the bottom of the sea on the colder coasts farther south, e. g., of Pata- 

 gonia and the Falkland Islands. But where the gigantic algse grow, 

 the coasts, like those of Norway, are surrounded by many rocky islands, 

 which moderate the violence of the breakers ; but there are scarcely any 

 such slands on the coast of Peru, and the sea breaks against the shore 

 with such violence that it is always difficult to land in boats. 



I shall now say a few words regarding the fishermen, their apparatus, 

 and method of fishing. Fishing is carried on almost exclusively by two 

 classes, the native population, the so-called "cholos" — a mixed race of 

 Spaniards and old Peruvians — and by Italians, who are a thrifty and 

 energetic people. The "cholos" go out fishing in their canoes, and 

 nearly always use hooks and lines. Only for catching shrimps and small 

 fish for bait they use a small net. The Italians, on the other hand, al- 

 ways fish with nets, and, according to the custom of their native coun- 

 try, in well-built boats with lateen sails. The natives generally go fishing 

 early in the morning, either far out at sea or close to the rocky coast, 

 where their boats may often be seen tossed about by the terrible break- 

 ers. Bottom lines form their principal apparatus, and they certainly 

 know how to use it. They often catch a very considerable number of cod- 

 fish, mackerel, and other fine fish during the forenoon. About noon 

 they go on shore, and their day's work is done. Floating lines with a 

 number of baited hooks cannot be used, as the seals would disturb them. 

 But when the above-mentioned fish of the salmon kind, the Baballes and 

 Corobinas, come near the coast, the natives employ another method of 



