NOTES ON FISHING METHODS OF THE SOUTH SEAS. 755 
At Papeete we were informed by Mr. Salmon, a native of Tahiti, 
that at a great many places in the Society and Paumotu groups certain 
kinds of fish were poisonous in some localities and good in others. In 
particular, on one side of the channel leading into Raroia the fish are 
good, but on the other side they are considered poisonous and are never 
eaten. The distance between the two fishing-grounds is less than a mile. 
The natives of the island do not advance any theory as to the cause, 
but merely state what experience has taught them. 
To arrive at a definite conclusion regarding the poisonous qualities 
of these fish, considerable time would have to be spent in investigating 
the grounds. It is reasonable to suppose that in fish caught on grounds 
situated a long distance from the village and exposed to the heat for 
several hours before they are cleaned poisonous gases would form, 
aa 
Stone Fish-trap, Anaa Atoll, on the Reef. 
making the fish unfit for food. Many considered poisonous might 
be edible if cleaned before decomposition set in; but in the locality 
mentioned the two fishing-grounds are only a short distance from the 
village. 
ANAA ATOLL. 
Only a brief stop was made here. A party was landed in the dory, 
near the passage leading into the lagoon, to collect samples of coral rock. 
While onshore we saw a number of natives on the reef engaged in spear- 
ing fish inastone trap. Onalong coral reef situated between two small 
islands 11 of these traps were counted, 100 to 200 feet apart, facing in 
different directions and so built that fish could enter from the out- 
side reef or from the lagoon side. At high water the reef is partially 
covered, and at times the sea breaks over it into the lagoon, 
