198 JMr. T. J. Moore on the Habitat of the Regadera. 



which is about one mile in circumference and from 130 to 135 

 fathoms deep. The native, when he considers he has come to 

 about the extremity of the bed, then lets drop his fishing- 

 tackle, comjjosed, as in the rough sketch given herewith, of 



Tj1^j jTriTffiffi^ 



a ])iece of iron of the shape of a T, to the two extremities of 

 which are attached two flexible pieces of bamboo armed with 

 hooks. This sinks to the bottom, and the native sits perfectly 

 still in his tiny canoe, which is then gradually drifted by the 

 tide or cm'rent over the ground on which are found the Rega- 

 deras. So soon as he feels that his trawling-apparatus has 

 caught something, he begins to haul his line gently in, and 

 generally finds two or three Regaderas impaled on the hooks. 

 When taken out of the water, the Regaderas are dirty and 

 yellow ; but, after being put in fresh water or exposed to the 

 rain and then dried in the sun, they become perfectly white. 



" The bottom of the sea where the Regaderas are found is 

 composed of soft mud and sand. The root of the Regadera is 

 imbedded in this, and the top or broad part always looks, as 

 the natives say, to the setting sun (" a donde se jjone el soV^). 

 In the Regadera, when fished up, are generally found from 

 one to three small animals {hichos) of the crab species, of about 

 the size of very small shrimps. [In the annexed sketch one 

 is drawn of the size of life.] These are supposed to make 



