776 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
boat-building. The cost of a boat all rigged is $250. No fishing is 
done in them, but they are used in making passages to distant parts of 
Tahiti and the island of Moorea. The people of Moorea have the same 
kind of a boat, and it is not unusual to see a dozen or more of them 
lying at anchor off the beach in the harbor of Papeete, loading with 
general cargo, such as can be carried in an open boat. The weather 
at most seasons of the year being pleasant, passages from one island 
to another are made with safety. Many parts of the coast line of 
Tahiti are protected by outlying barrier reefs, inside of which canoes 
and boats can navigate in smooth water when it is choppy outside. 
From November 6 to the 15th the A//atross again lay in the harbor 
of Papeete. This time less general collecting was done than during 
our previous visit. The material collected at the various islands was 
packed and made ready for shipment to Washington. 
Wire fish-traps were set on the reef in shallow water off the south- 
east side of Motu-uta Island, remaining down from the 7th until the 
14th. After having been set 24 hours they were hauled, but nothing 
was in them. At the end of two days two of the traps were shifted 
farther in on the reef in shallower water. Here nothing was caught, 
and they were shifted back to where they were first set. Nothing was 
taken until the third day, when 4 fish were found in them, and imme- 
diately following these 11 others were caught, all in traps having live 
fish in them for a decoy. The first decoy was caught on a hook; the 
first four specimens taken in the traps were also used for decoys. 
However plentiful fish may be around a trap, they seldom enter it 
the first day or two. It has to be carefully investigated from a distance 
until a certain amount of confidence is gained before approaching 
nearer. Native fishermen rarely visit a trap under four or five days 
from the time it is set. 
On the morning of November 15 the ship left Papeete and steamed 
over to the island of Moorea, where it lay to off the northern end during 
the afternoon and part of the evening. In the afternoon several schools 
of horse mackerel passed by, followed by large flocks of birds. 
The following day we skirted the shores of Huaheine, Raiatea, and 
Tahaa islands. In the passage separating Raiatea and Tahaa a large 
number of canoes were engaged in fishing. The islands are circled by 
a barrier reef forming a channel from a half to a mile wide. In the 
evening the ship anchored in Hurepiti Bay on the southwest side of 
Tahaa. At the entrance of the passage were two natives fishing with 
spears; they were up to their knees in water and towing their canoes 
after them. The shore in all parts of the bay is very precipitous, 
cocoanut trees and other vegetation growing to the water’s edge. The 
beaches are narrow and steep and at high water are covered. Only a 
few huts were visible from our anchorage, and they were built on piling 
over the water. 
