786 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
specimens of each kind were saved. Just back of the beach on a high 
bluff is a small village. As the seine was being hauled the natives 
came down to the beach to watch the operation. They seemed aston- 
ished that we should save fish for which they had no use. They would 
pick out certain kinds of fish, point to their mouths, shake their heads, 
as much to say that they were unfit to eat. A fish not fit to eat was, 
in their estimation, of no value. We were informed by a white man, 
who had a boat-building establishment at the foot of the bluff and on 
the upper side of the beach, that the people of this village do but 
little fishing. 
A trammel net was set in 24 fathoms of water not far from the ship 
and close to the beach. Fish were abundant, but none was taken. 
Just back of the village is a lagoon, in which the natives do most of 
their fishing. Its entrance is cut off from the harbor by a high bluff, 
around which the distance is about 7 miles. The beach in the lagoon 
is smooth and makes off from the shore a long distance, and so far as 
we could see is free from coral. A number of seines were hanging 
over poles to dry; they were cotton and machine-made. The people 
were all too busy trading with the ship’s company to do any fishing, 
consequently we saw none of their methods in operation. If one could 
remain long enough at each island to witness the various occupations 
of the people many interesting facts could be learned. 
A favorite way of fishing is for men, women, and children to turn 
out ina body, surround a school of fish in canoes, pushing before them 
long branches of cocoanut palms. The branches frighten the fish and 
cause them to crowd together; they are then easily driven into shallow 
water and kept there by continual working of the leaves. Quantities 
of poisonous berries are then thrown among the fish, which cause them 
to rise to the surface in a stupefied condition, when they are captured 
with spear and dip net. 
The canoe of this island is practically the same as that of Tonga. 
It is said that about thirty years ago canoes ranging from 40 to 60 feet 
were common among the islands, but it is doubtful if there is now 
one in the entire Tonga group. Large canoes were built of many 
pieces, the logs being too small to produce one much over 20 feet in 
length. The cutter, schooner, and small sailboat, introduced about 
forty years ago, have taken the place of sailing canoes. The canoes 
of to-day are made with modern tools; those previous to the coming of 
the white man with native manufactured tools. The fact that a white 
man can build a cutter and several rowboats in the same time it takes 
a native to build a dugout has a tendency to discourage the latter 
from entering into competition, and, moreover, his association with 
civilization has not made him more energetic than he formerly was. 
