698 TRAPPING NAUTILUS. 



idea with ridicule. This was in itself a bad sign, in consideration of the intimate 

 and intuitive acquaintance which they manifest with many natural phenomena. 



In New Britain the year is divided into two sharply contrasted seasons distinguished 

 by the direction of the prevailing trade-wind. The fine south-east season lasts approxi- 

 mately from April to October and during the rest of the year, from November to March, 

 the north-west wind blows almost unceasingly, bringing in its wake rain and squalls. 



In other localities, such as the Moluccas and the Philippines 1 , Nautilus can only 

 be obtained during the time of the south-east monsoon, but Blanche Bay has this 

 advantage, that it yields up its treasure throughout the year. 



The traps which are set for Nautilus at a depth of from thirty to seventy 

 fathoms are baited with small soft-skinned fishes which congregate in shoals at various 

 points of the coast and are obtained by exploding a charge of dynamite in their midst. 

 This will no doubt appear a reprehensible method to an angler but it should be 

 remembered that it is the common custom, sanctioned by high and low in these parts. 



On a typical occasion in January 1895, which I may describe, having procured my 

 bait I took it to Davaun, To-vungia's village, in order to make arrangements for the 

 setting of the traps during the coming night. I also purchased for myself a fish- 

 basket in exchange for a " lava-lava " (waist-cloth) and six sticks of tobacco, and then 

 returned to Vulcan Island. As soon as the fishermen who happened to be there saw 

 that I was becoming independent of them they set to work with a will to bait the 

 trap by tying the small fish called " malabur " on fibres purposely suspended inside 

 from the framework. After this had been done and a heavy stone had been attached 

 at each end the fish-trap was ready to be mounted upon a canoe and taken to the 

 selected spot. 



We baited two traps on this occasion and started out, in two canoes, shortly 

 after sundown, paddling towards Davaun and stopping rather close to the shore 

 opposite to a point where a light was burning at "house belong To-galli," all positions 

 being ascertained by dead reckoning. We began to lower my basket at 7.20 p.m., 

 using a native rattan cable, and finished paying out the rope after the lapse of 

 twenty minutes; during this time, that is to say while the basket was slowly sinking, 

 the canoe was kept in gentle and silent motion by the assistants. 



To-kiap, master of the canoe, having made a float of light wood, set the whole 

 thing adrift and then we cruised about until 10 o'clock when we recovered the float 

 and began to haul up. There were no Nautili in the basket, a disappointment of 

 small moment to the biologist accustomed to negative results. 



A thermometer, kindly lent by Mr Parkinson, which I had taken the opportunity 

 of fixing to my basket, showed a difference of about 9° C. between the temperature 

 of the bottom of the bay and that of the top, the respective readings being 20° C. 

 on the A'VM/i^Ms-frequented ground as against 29° C. at the surface. 



1 Concerning the occurrence of Nautilus at Amboyna, Dr Semon's work, In the Australian Bxish, may be 

 consulted. As for Negros, one of the Philippine islands, I am indebted for information to Prof. D. C. Worcester, 

 formerly of the University of Michigan, and to Prof. Bashford Dean of the Columbia University, New York. 

 Prof. Dean has published an illustrated account of his observations, entitled " Notes on Living Nautilus," in 

 the American Naturalist, Vol. xxxv. 1901, pp. 819 — 837. 



