NOTES ON FISHING METHODS OF THE SOUTH SEAS. 05 
and great care was taken in decorating the war canoe with carvings 
and shells. The canoe for common use was far superior to most of 
those now seen among the islands adjacent to Tahiti. 
The average length of the canoes measured was 23 feet; 19 inches 
wide and 18 inches deep, width carried well forward and aft; outrig- 
ger 18 feet long, 64 feet from the side of the canoe; 13 feet between 
crosspieces leading to outrigger, the forward one connected with it by 
a stanchion 12 inches high, the after one leading directly to it and 
fastened with the usual cocoanut fiber. The stanchions are braced with 
withes. Wire is sometimes used. 
There seems to be no special pattern for the outrigger float. All 
styles were noticed—round, square, some sharp on the forward end 
and others blunt. The main body of the canoe is quite symmetrical, 
yet there is a decided lack of finish. 
Both long and short handled dip nets are used. The bow is 24 feet 
long by 14 feet wide; size of mesh 3 inches. The web is made of 
cocoanut and pandanus fiber. The large nets are of the former and 
some small ones of the latter material. The net hangs about 14 inches 
below the bow on the outer part and not over 3 inches on that part 
next the handle, thus forming a kind of a pocket. The nets are neces- 
sarily very light, for they must be handled very quickly when fishing 
with them on the reef and from the canoe. 
Canoe-bailers are made of one piece of wood, and are shaped like a 
hand flour-scoop, except that the bottom is nearly flat. The handle 
is on the inside and projects from the top horizontally toward the 
mouth. By having the handle on the inside the person who is bailing 
can work much longer without the hand becoming cramped than 
would be possible with the ordinary boat-bailer. The size of bailers 
examined was 17 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 3 inches deep. To 
make a bailer of this kind with tools such as were formerly used must 
have been slow and tedious work; but with modern tools at hand it is 
quite a simple matter; yet the introduction of modern tools has not 
improved the workmanship of anything connected with the canoes. 
It has been mentioned that large canoes have been mostly supplanted 
by clinker-built boats varying in length from 30 to 40 feet; 382 feet is 
about the average length, 5 to 6 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. Square 
stern and straight stem is the prevailing style. They are keel boats, 
straight on bottom, with little sheer. They are rigged with spritsails 
and carry two masts stepped well aft, with shrouds permanently fixed 
to masthead, temporarily set up to eye-bolts in the gunwale. ‘They 
are well supplied with thwarts, generally seven, followed by large 
stern sheets. 
We were informed that these boats were all built by the natives. 
Good workmanship is displayed in every detail, showing that what 
they have lost in the art of canoe-making has been made up in modern 
