140 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



fathoms, yielded but meager results, and the surface and intermediate 

 tow nets also took but little. The collecting on the reefs and in the 

 shallow water was unproductive, as compared with similar collections 

 in the West Indies, although some interesting forms occurred in con- 

 siderable abundance. About 100 soundings were made in this part of 

 the cruise, and the contour of the bottom and the extent of the main 

 Paumotu plateau west of Pinaki were fairly delineated. 



In that part of the Paumotu Archipelago visited by the Albatross 

 the natives showed, in their habitations, boats, utensils, and mode of 

 life, the influence of somewhat intimate contact with the whites. On 

 some of the larger islands are stationed gens d'armes, the local repre- 

 sentatives of the French colonial government, and traders and mis- 

 sionaries are found almost everywhere. Nukatavake was the only 

 island where the expedition noted any approach to primitive condi- 

 tions, and the stop there was too short to enable the members of the 

 party to make more than the most casual observations. It is prob- 

 able that in the eastern islands more of the old life obtains than in 

 those parts of the archipelago in more immediate communication with 

 Tahiti. The people are much under the influence of missionaries, 

 mostly Tahitians, although some are whites, and while their morality 

 is perhaps not all that could be desired, they exhibit considerable zeal 

 in their religious observances and some rivalry between the various 

 sects. At Pakaka, on Apataki, with a population of perhaps 200, the 

 members of the expedition observed four churches, and were informed 

 that there was one more, a representation which it would be difficult 

 to duplicate in a village of the same size in the United States. 



Three days were spent at anchor in the lagoon off Rotoava on 

 Fakarava, where is located the French residency for the Paumotu 

 Archipelago. Like most of the larger villages of the eastern Paumo- 

 tus, Rotoava is well kept, with a broad main road shaded by cocoanut 

 trees stretching along the lagoon front, the coral soil compacted to a 

 smoothness resembling concrete. The usual collections and observa- 

 tions were made and the ship sailed on October 14. A stop of very 

 short duration was made at Anaa, an island rich in cocoanut trees 

 and supporting the densest population in the archipelago. A curious 

 fish trap or weir, constructed of coral rocks, was observed on the 

 reefs at this place, the fish being removed from it at low water with 

 dip nets. The lagoon of Anaa is one of great beauty, and its brilliant 

 colors reflected on the clouds were visible many miles away, long 

 before the island itself was sighted. 



After leaving Anaa the islands of Tahanea, Tuanaka, Raroia, 

 Takume, and Taenga were visited, but the first stop, six days, was 

 made at Makemo, where bad weather delayed the arrival of a coal 

 supply ordered from Papeete. The naval officers utilized the enforced 

 stay in making a survey of Northeast Pass and its anchorage, which 

 have been inadequately charted, and in carrying on magnetic and 

 astronomical observations of value to mariners. The reef flat in the 



