FISHING. 155 



clue to the fate of La Perouse, a very pardonable error which receives 

 its explanation from the above facts.^ 



iiiiiiim 



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Fishing on the reef-flats with large hand-nets is a common occu- 

 pation of the men in the islands of Bougainville Straits. Some five 

 or six men form a party, each man carrying a pair of long hand- 

 nets in which the netting is stretched on a long bamboo some 20 

 feet in length and bent like a bow, as shown in the accompanying 

 figure. The fishing party wade about on the fiat near the edge of 

 the reef, each man being about 20 paces apart, and dragging behind 

 him a pair of these clumsy-looking nets, one in each hand. When a 

 fish is perceived they close round ; and every man spreads out his 

 nets, one on each side like a pair of wings, thus covering an extent 

 of some 40 feet. By skilfully dropping his nets, when it makes a 

 rush in his direction, the native secures the fi.sh, which, dashing head 

 first against one of the nets, gets its snout caught in the meshes ; 

 and a couple of blows on the head complete the capture. I have 

 seen fish of the size of an ordinary bass caught in this manner. 

 Smaller nets, 4 to 6 feet in length, with a finer mesh, are used for 

 catching fish of less size. The large hand-net is known as the 

 " sorau," and the small hand-net as the '•' saiaili." Such is one of the 

 commonest methods of fishing in the Straits. For this purpose, 

 fishing parties often visit the uninhabited small islands and coral 

 islets that lie off the coa.sts. There they erect temporary sheds and 

 ] emain for one or two weeks. In the numerous uninhabited islets 

 and small islands which I visited, I frequently came on the tem- 

 I'orary habitations erected by fishing parties ; whilst propped up 

 against the trees were the long bamboo poles on which the nets are 

 stretched. The nativ-es of St. Christoval and the adjacent islands 

 employ a similar method in fishing on the reef -flats. Fishing parties 

 often spend a week or two on the small islands and reefs which lie 



1 Dillon's " Discovery of the Fate of La Peroiise " (1829), rol I., p. Ixix. 



