Report of a Mission to Guam. 6i 



Part II.— FISHES. 



[Fish forms a very important part of the food of the people of 

 Guam. There are no fish markets, however, the entire catch being 

 divided up among those wlio take part in the fishing. The natives 

 have quite a large number of pens, traps and nets. Several large 

 seines of moderate mesh were seen in use. But the favorite way 

 of fishing seemed to be with the small circular net, which is thrown 

 by the fisherman as he walks along the beach. 



It is recorded' that in former times "the natives caught and 

 dried great quantities of fish," a grand fishing fiesta being held at 

 certain seasons of the 3'ear. The method employed on these occa- 

 sions being the poisoning of the fishes b}' using the juice of a native 

 tree {Barringtonia spcciosa) . The Spanish authorities, however, 

 finding that this was depleting the waters, by killing young as well 

 as old, abolished this method in 1894. When the Americans took 

 possession the law was considered obsolete. By chance I was pres- 

 ent at the first of these fishing fiestas that had taken place for seven 

 years. Fully seven hundred people took part in the fishing. An 

 immense deep pool, several hundred feet across, a short distance 

 inside the reef, was surrounded by a line of seines. At low tide 

 about one barrel of this poisonous juice was poured into the pool. 

 The effect was almo.st instantaneous ; hundreds of fishes came 

 gasping and struggling to the top of the water where they were 

 captured and killed by the natives. No ill effect seemed to follow 

 the eating of these poisoned fish. Thousands of small fishes were 

 killed, and it is to be hoped our Government will put a stop to this 

 wholesale destru(5lion of fishes. 



In the arrangement and measurement of species in the follow- 

 ing paper I have followed Jordan & Evermann, in their work on 

 "The Fishes of North and Middle America." I wish to express 

 my obligations to Prof. Wm. T. Brigham, Dire(5tor of the Bernice 

 Pauahi Bishop Museum, for many valuable suggestions and kindly 

 assistance. Mau}^ thanks are also due Dr. David vStarr Jordan for 

 looking over and supplying corrections to my MS. 



' Government Archive.s, Guam. 



