A NAUTILUS IS SECURED. 135 



and a pencil in tlie otlier. So little escaped his pen 

 and pencil, that very little information has been add- 

 ed by later dissections. I was so anxious to secure 

 one of these rare animals, that I felt that, if I should 

 obtain one and a few more common species, I could 

 feel that my long journey had been far from fruitless. 

 Only the second day after my arrival, to my inex- 

 pressible delight, a native brought me one still Ihring. 

 Seeing how highly I prized it, he began by asking 

 ten guilders (four Mexican dollars) for it, but finally 

 concluded to part with it for two guilders (less than 

 one iMexican dollar), though I should certainly have 

 paid him fifty if I could not have obtained it for a 

 less price. It had been taken in this way : the na- 

 tives throughout the archipelago rarely fish ^dth a 

 liook and line as we do, but, where the water is too 

 deep to build a weii', they use instead a huhii^ or bar- 

 rel of open basket-work of bamboo. Each end of 

 this barrel is an inverted cone, Avith a small opening 

 at its apex. Pieces of fisli and other bait are sus- 

 ])ended from within, and the huhu is then sunk on 

 the clear j^atches of sand on a coral reef, or more com- 

 monly out where the water is from twenty to fifty 

 fathoms deep. No line is attached to those on the 

 reefs, but they are taken up ^^'ith a gaff. Those 

 in deep water are buoyed by a cord and a long bam- 

 boo, to one end of which a stick is fastened in a ver- 

 tical position, and to this is attached a piece of palm- 

 leaf for a flag, to make it more conspicuous. In this 

 case it happened that one of these huhus was washed 

 off into deeper water than usual, and the nautilus 

 chanced to ciawl througli the opening in one of the 



