184 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
through an outlet. It is then that the accuracy of aim is exhibited by 
the spearman. 
On the outer edge of the reef was a native fish-trap, unlike all others 
noticed, and built of bamboo poles and wire netting. The stakes were 
8 feet long and 3 feet apart, driven in the crevices in the coral. The 
wire was attached to the stakes 3 feet from the top. At high water 
the top of the wire was 
_ just awash; offshore lead, 
200 feet; inshore lead, 
150 feet. The trap proper 
yas built somewhat in 
the shape of a heart, 60 
feet in diameter. This 
was the only trap noticed. 
There may have been 
others elsewhere of differ- 
ent construction, for the 
reef covers a large area. 
Our work kept us within 
a few miles of the village, 
and only a small portion 
of the fishing-ground was 
explored. 
The canoes of Tonga do 
not materially differ from 
many of those noticed in 
the Paumotus. The natives of Tonga Tabu, like the people of many 
other islands, have been too long associated with civilization not to 
have lost a great deal of their ability as canoe-builders, and probably 
never again will the beautifully made canoes be seen among the islands 
of this group. Boats of every description are fast supplanting the 
Fish-trap, Nukualofa. 
dugout and all other forms of canoes. 
One canoe was measured, which will answer as a type: Length, 17 
feet; width, 14 inches; depth, 15 inches, dug from one piece of wood. 
A top rail 4+ inches deep and 1 inch thick ran the whole length, 
and was seized on with the usual cocoanut-fiber thread. The holes 
through which the seizing passed were 4 inches apart, and on each side 
of the seam was a bamboo strip; no gum or pitch inthe seam. At the 
water line the canoe was 2 inches wider than at the gunwales; very 
round on the sides and bottom. Stem straight, stern tapering nearly 
toa point. There were two thwarts, one forward, the other aft, and 
both nailed to the gunwales. The crosspieces forming the frame of 
the outrigger were 6 feet apart, and they were also nailed to the gun- 
wale, the outer ends being fastened to the float by withes wound 
around pegs. The float of the outrigger was made of koa wood, 10 
feet long, 45 inches in diameter, and 33 feet from the side. 
