TURTLE AND SUCKERS 243 



own manufacture, besides a live fire-stick lying on a piece 

 of bark sprinkled with sand, or they may carry a couple 

 of dry sticks for raising a fire by friction. The haft of 

 the harpoon is probably red or orange mangrove (Bru- 

 guiera rheedt), heavy and tough. It has been duly seasoned 

 and straightened by immersion in running water and 

 exposure to fire. At the heavy end it is hollowed out 

 to a depth of 4 inches. The point is preferably of one 

 of the black palms (Archontophcenix Jardinet), and a barb 

 is strapped to it with the fibre of the " Man-djar " (Hibiscus 

 tiliaceous} and cemented with " Toon-coo." 



I have never known one of these barbs to break or 

 come loose, so adept are the blacks in securing them. The 

 point is about 6 inches long, and on the barbless end 

 is tightly wound successive layers of fibrous bark, until 

 its size is adjusted to the socket in the haft. Above the 

 swathing of bark a strong line is made fast ; the padded 

 end is fitted into the socket, the line is made taut 

 along the whole length of the haft, and secured by 

 three or four half hitches about a foot from the thin end. 

 A neat coil of perhaps 50 yards of line lies in the bottom 

 of the canoe. Probably each of the blacks will have his 

 fishing-line, for sometimes the turtle do not rise according 

 to expectations. At high tide these feed among the rocks 

 close to the shore, at low water out among the coral on the 

 reef, and the hunters wait and watch and fish silently and 

 with all passivity. Then, when maybe they have caught 

 schnapper, red bream and parrot-fish, they drift among 

 the turtle, and the sport begins. 



In sight of the game the sucker which has been 

 adhering to the bottom of the canoe is tugged off and 

 thrown in its direction. As a preliminary the disc and 

 shoulders of the sucker are vigorously scrubbed with dry 

 sand or the palm of the hand, to remove the slime and to 

 excite the ruling passion of the fish. It makes a dash for a 

 more congenial companionship than an insipid canoe. The 

 line by which it is secured is made from the bark of the 

 " Boo-bah " (Ficus fasciculate?) and is of two strands, so light 



