58 NAUTILID^. 



Island, Fiji group. It was very lively, swimming around in a 

 tub, in a retrograde direction, by the ejection of water from the 

 funnel. The tentacles were extended radially from the head, 

 somewhat like those of a sea anemone ; but each pair had its 

 definite and different direction, which was constantly maintained ; 

 thus one pair of tentacles was held pointing directly downwards, 

 two other pairs, situate just before and behind the eyes, were 

 held projecting obliquely outwards and forwards, and backwards 

 respectively, as if to protect the organs of sight. 



The natives of the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Fiji 

 group of islands, capture the Nautilus, and use it as an article 

 of food. They take them in their fish-falls, in from three to five 

 fathoms of water ; the bait they use is the echinus. They are 

 very fond of them. In some of the islands they make a kind 

 of soup of them. At the Island of Ware, about 30 miles from 

 New Caledonia, they are roasted, and taste like whelks (Buc- 

 cinum). 



The Fijians esteem the Pearly Nautilus highly as an agreeable 

 viand, and their mode of capturing it for the embers or the pot 

 is not a little interesting. When the water is smooth, so that the 

 bottom at several fathoms of depth, near the border of the reef, 

 may be distinctly seen, the fisherman in his little frail canoe 

 scrutinizes the sands and the coral masses below, to discover the 

 animal in its favorite haunts. The experienced eye of the native 

 may probabl}^ encounter it in its usual position, clinging to some 

 prominent ledge, with the shell turned downwards. The tackle 

 consists, first, of a large round wicker-work basket, shaped very 

 much like a cage rat-trap, having an opening above, with a circlet 

 of points directed inwards, so as to permit of entr^^, but preclude 

 escape ; secondly, a rough piece of native rope, of sufficient 

 length to reach the bottom ; and thirdly, a small piece of branched 

 wood, with the branches sharpened to form a sort of grapnel, to 

 which a perforated stone is attached, answering the purpose of 

 a sinker. The basket is now weighted with stones, well-baited 

 with boiled cray-fish, and then dropped gently down near the 

 victim. The trap is now either closely watched, or a mark is 

 placed upon the spot, and the fisherman pursues his avocatibn 

 upon other parts of the reef, until a certain period has elapsed, 

 when he returns, and in all probability finds the Nautilus in his 

 cage feeding upon the bait. The grapnel is now carefully let 

 down, and having entered the basket through the opening on 

 top, a dexterous movement of the hand fixes one or more of the 

 points or hooks, and the prize is safely hoisted into the canoe. 



The Pearly Nautilus is not found at the Navigator group of 

 islands in the South Seas, and the shells form there an important 

 article of exchange. They are brought by European vessels from 

 New Caledonia and the Fiji Islands as articles of trade, and are 



