THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



175 



Many sharks, such as 

 this, were netted, but 

 were cast overboard as 



"rubbish." 

 Photo. — H. O. I'letclier. 



at the wheel and 

 the eiigine-rooin 

 staff, the crew 

 had sought their 

 bunks, and after 

 sai'ely storing the 

 fruits of my col- 

 lecting labours, I 

 too invited slum- 

 ber in my quar- 

 ters aft. This 

 was broken, how- 

 ever, l)y the oc- 

 casional thunder- 

 ous hammering 

 and clanging of 

 the taut steel 

 warps against the 

 --hip's side. 



Sunrise the next 

 morning was a 

 memorable sight. 

 Low down on the 

 eastern horizon 

 hung a dark bank 

 of cloud, and as 

 the sun rose, one 

 gazed on a scene 

 of the greatest grandeur; the whole 

 bank was lit up with vast glit- 

 tering shafts all glowing with the most 

 enchanting hues, until the whole east 

 was flooded with a light like molten gold. 

 The morning broke fine and clear, pre- 

 senting a vast expanse of ocean over 

 which flew numerous sea birds. Some 

 floated lazily on the swell close along- 

 side, quite unmindful of the frolicking 

 "porpoises" diving about them. The 

 warm sunshine and the pleasant breeze 

 had a most exhilarating effect, so I 

 turned with pleasure to the examina- 

 tion of the coUectioHS secured over- 

 night. To the naturalist the microscopic 

 material is just as important as the 

 larger specimens, and on a close scru- 

 tiny of seaweeds, etc., I was enabled to 

 disengage quite a lot of minute organ- 

 isms. Many sea lice (Isopocla), and sea 

 fleas (Amphipoda), were placed with 

 care in the collecting tubes for later re- 

 search. Small conical calcareous colo- 

 nies of sea mat {Bryozoa) were found, 

 some sedentary and some free. These 

 colonies often take another form, and 



are found encrusting either the stem or 

 lea,\'es of marine weeds, or may often be 

 present on the outside of shells. Under 

 the microscoi^e a colony of sea mat re- 

 veals numerous primitive animals, -^ye&ch 

 in its liny cellular home, witliin The 

 boundaries of which it gathers in food 

 by the aid of delicate tentacles. The 

 cell patterns of individual colonies are 

 wonderfully consistent, and present a 

 scene of exquisite architectural beauty. 



In the next haul was an unwanted 

 visitor in the form of a large grey nurse 

 shark (Carchar'ias arenarius), a truly 

 awesome creature when seen out of its 

 natural element. After expending most 

 of its energy by snapping its jaws and 

 beating its tail on the deck, it was des- 

 patched by a well placed blow with a 

 sledge hammer, and tossed back into the 

 sea. Many large wobbegongs or carpet 

 sharks (Orectolohus devisii), less harm- 

 ful than their man-eating cousins, were 

 taken in subsequent hauls. Their skin 

 is beautifully marked with a reticulating 

 pattern of brown and lilac, the design 

 of which so resembles that of a carpet 

 that it has earned for the species its 

 vernacular name. 



All through the days and nights fol- 

 lowing the crew shot and hauled with 

 unlimited energy at regular intervals of 

 four hours duration. The store of fish 

 in the hold steadily increased, and in the 

 end totalled about 350 baskets. Every 

 haul, however, was not attended with 

 equal success. Occasionally fortune de- 

 serts the crew. This may be by the 

 fouling and consequent tearing of the 

 net on some obstacle on the sea floor. 

 Fortunately this does not often occur, 

 as the regular fishing grounds are by 

 now well known. The nature of the 

 bottom in these localities has been care- 

 fully investigated and charted, thus en- 

 abling the liehnsman to avoid isolated 

 reefs and other submerged objects. 

 Again, trouble may arise from the split- 

 ting of a cod-end which has become t©o 

 weak to support the weight of a catch 

 of fish. This generally occurs while the 

 tackle is hauling it inboard. I wit- 

 nessed one of these unfortunate occu- 

 rences, which caused the loss of half the 

 catch over the ship's side. Only por- 

 tion of this was regained through the 



