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bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



The " Palolo " makes its appearance twice a year and always in a 

 quartering of the moon, at a neap tide in October and November. For 

 Fiji the October rising is known as " Bololo lailai," i. e., small or few 

 " Palolo ; " the November one is called " Bololo levu," i. e., large or many 

 " Palolo." The October crop is not large enough to interest the natives 

 in its capture, but marks in a way the time for the appearance of the 

 great November crop. 1 There are various signs known to the natives 

 by which they reckon when to expect the swarming of the worm, such 

 as the distance above the horizon of certain constellations, the " march " 

 to the sea of the land crabs to deposit their eggs, the appearance of certain 

 small fish, the ripening of certain tubers, the flowering of plants, etc. 

 An old Fijian chief told me that you might expect the " Bololo " when 

 in the last quartering of the moon in October and November there is a 

 low tide just before sunrise. This spring season is recognized through- 

 out the Pacific islands, and where the " Palolo " occurs the native calen- 

 dar bears its mark as to the names of seasons and months. All of the 

 annelids living in the reefs are sexually mature at this time, as shown by 

 the extensive collections made by Kramer and myself, and this is true 

 of the general animal life of the reef. In Samoa this season is known 

 as taumafamua, i. e., the time of much to eat. In the Banks Islands, 

 Mota (Codrington, 1891), the season is called tau matua, the season of 

 maturity. 2 



Good accounts of the fishing of the " Palolo" are given by Churchil] 

 (1902), Churchward (1887), Kramer (1902), the Earl of Pembroke 

 (1872), Seeman (1862), Stair (1897), Thompson (1896), von Werner 

 (1890), and others. The ' Palolo-time ' embraces three successive days. 

 When in the last quarter of the moon in October and November, more 

 especially the latter, the water on the ' Palolo-grounds ' has a turbid or 

 roiled look, with floating patches of scum, the natives know that two 

 days later the " Palolo " will ' rise.' This first day is called salefu. 

 The second day is marked by the swarming of a small annelid, headless 

 like the " Palolo," and the sexes distinguished by the same yellow and 

 greenish tints. This day is called motusaga. The third is the tatelega 

 when the " Palolo " swarms and the natives come many miles to the 

 favoured places to gather it. With " Palolo " of the tatelega day many 

 of the small annelids of the motusaga occur, and a few " Palolo" appear 



1 I can offer no explanation why there should he two distinct crops and in ad- 

 jacent months, nor why the Novemher crops should be so much larger. 



2 It is not in the province of this paper to enter into the legends, folk-lore, and 

 ceremonies of the natives witli which the " Palolo " has so much to do. 





