TF£E PACIFIC OCEAN. 297 



jecting arms depends the line, with the pearl-hook 

 fashioned to resemble the Flying-fish. To increase 

 the deception, bunches of feathers are fastened to 

 the tips of the arms, to represent those aquatic 

 birds which habitually follow the Flying-fish in its 

 course, to seize it in the air. The presence of these 

 birds is so sure an indication of the position of the 

 fish, that the fishermen hasten to the spot where they 

 are seen hovering in the air. The canoe skims rapidly 

 along, rising and falling on the waves, by which a 

 similar motion is communicated to the hook, which 

 skips along, sometimes out and sometimes in the 

 water, w^hile the plumes of feathers flutter imme- 

 diately above. The artifice rarely fails to succeed ; 

 if the Bonito perceives the hook, he instantly engages 

 in pursuit, and if he misses his grasp, perseveres 

 until he has seized it. The moment the man in the 

 stern perceives the capture he hoists the crane, and 

 the fish is dragged in, and thrown into a sort of long 

 basket, suspended between the two canoes. The 

 crane is then lowered again, and all is ready for 

 another candidate. 



Yet another mode of fishing, not wanting in in- 

 genuity, is adopted by the inhabitants of the Samoa 

 group. A number of hollow floats, about eight 

 inches in height, and the same in diameter, are 

 fastened to a stout cord, a short distance apart. To 

 each of them a line is attached, about a foot in 

 length, to the end of which a piece of fish-bone is 

 suspended by the middle. This bone is ground 

 exceedingly sharp at each end, so that when it is 

 seized by the fish, the points enter the mouth in 



