744 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
bananas, oranges, breadfruit, ete. Their wants are so easily supplied 
that the taking of fish for food is of minor importance. — It is said that 
the other settlements on the island pay as little attention to fishing as 
do the natives of Tai-o-hae. 
The fishing is conducted with seine, hook and line, and spear. The 
seines are machine-made, 40 to 60 fathoms long, and 25 to 3 fathoms 
deep; size of mesh, 24 and 33 inches stretch measure. In the early 
days the seines were knit by the natives, but soon after trading vessels 
began touching at the island and stores were established the knitting 
of nets was practically given up. Hand-line fishing is confined to rocky 
areas at the mouth of the harbor. The water is comparatively deep 
close to the shore, and twenty-odd fathoms in the middle of the chan- 
nel. By anchoring their canoes near the projecting rocks or drifting 
with the tide or wind along the shores fairly good catches are made. 
The fisherman either starts out very early in the morning or about an 
hour before sundown. At other times it is almost useless to try for 
bottom fish. Usually much patience is necessary in fishing with hand 
lines, for these fish do not readily take the hook; but as the native has 
abundance of time, it matters but little if an hour or two is consumed 
in securing a single fish. 
The fish taken with spear are quite large and are caught outside 
the harbor by the aid of a torch. The spears have four iron prongs 
fastened closely together at the end of a pole, with the barbs on the 
inside of the circle facing each other. The pole is 8 to 9 feet long, with 
a line attached to the end to prevent it from being lost and also to 
draw it back when a fish has been missed. At certain seasons of the 
year large numbers of fish are sometimes taken in a comparatively 
short time. The fishing excursions are generally made on the dark of 
the moon, fish being most numerous at that time. 
At the head of the harbor are two beaches, each making off shallow 
for about 200 feet, then suddenly falling off into comparatively deep 
rater. The bottom at this depth, so far as could be observed, is com- 
posed of fine sand with a few rocks. Both beaches are about a half 
mile long, suddenly terminating in volcanic rock and small beach 
bowlders. In front of the village the beach is very rocky. 
During the stay at Nukuhiva collections were made chiefly with drag 
seine. Six hauls were made on the beaches, taking seven species of 
fish, including a number of bonito, pompano, and a small sardine, 
with others not identified; specimens of all were saved. 
A cod trawl was set near the entrance of the harbor, the inner end 
in 6 fathoms of water, the outer end in 23 fathoms; hard bottom in 
shore and quite soft in the middle of the channel; the bait used was 
salt herring and smelts. The trawl remained down about two hours 
with negative results. The bait had not been touched. Unsuccessful 
trials were made with hand lines. We were informed by a native that 
