124 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



exceed 30 feet above sea level, and from a vessel's deck can only 

 be seen about 8 miles distant. 



Although so near the line the temperature in the house rarely 

 exceeds a steady heat of 86°. The vegetation chiefly consists of 

 sun-trees, with large smooth foliage, bearing yellow flowers, and a 

 species of succulent pig-face weed. 



Remains of ancient aboriginal graves are upon the island, and 

 human bones and a native well were unearthed underneath very 

 old and deep layers of guano. 



The guano station is worked by eight Europeans and about 150 

 Polynesians, which constituted the entire population of the island. 

 The Polynesians are recruited from Savage Island, named by 

 Captain Cook on account of the ferocious tribes of cannibals 

 encountered there. Under the efforts of the London Missionary 

 Society, the whole island is now Christianized. 



The natives, chiefly those from Aitutaki, are expert swimmers. 

 They have been known to descend into 8 or 9 fathoms of water 

 to release a fouled anchor, and at the guano station they placed 

 three sheets of copper upon a ship's bottom by driving a couple 

 of nails each dive. They frequently dive into spongy coral groves 

 to place a running noose about a basking shark 8 or 10 feet long. 

 Should the monster not be in a suitable position, the native ad- 

 ministers a gentle nudge in the ribs, as much as to say, " Move 

 over there, old fellow." After adjustment the line is drawn taut, 

 and the shark is rapidly hauled up to the surface by a canoe's 

 crew, wliere it is killed for food. Mr. Julian has been an eye- 

 witness of this unique method of fishing. I think it is also men- 

 tioned in one of the missionaries' works, by the Rev. Wyatt Gill. 

 The only shark the natives really fear is a species possessing 

 yellow fins. Another illustration proves that these li;he natives 

 are almost semi-aquatic beings. During one of those terrible 

 hurricanes so frequent among the Pacific Islands, a schooner was 

 seen to founder in the boiling surf, with all hands lost, apparently, 

 beyond any doubt. Hours afterwards a woman swam ashore, 

 and when found on the strand was adjusting her toilet and shaking 

 the gritty coral sand out of her raven locks as if nothing extra- 

 ordinary had happened. And 24 hours after the wreck a man 

 w^as observed swimming about, and only succumbed when he was 

 dashed to pieces upon the merciless rocks. 



The birds that frequent Maiden Island are : — 

 Sandpiper or Plover {Tofam/s incanus), which always appears 

 around the lagoon. Mr. Henry Seebohm, to whom I submitted 

 the skin for identification, informs me that the bird " breeds in 

 Alaska, but can only be a winter visitor to Maiden. This you can 

 prove by the date. It is in newly moulted breeding dress. If it 

 is going to Alaska to breed the date ought to be March, April, 



