CH. vm CHABACTEBISTICS OF 8AN6IB ISLANDS 199 



only the little double outrigged coasting canoes, called lepa- 

 lepa, but also large sailing vessels of some 4,000 lbs. freight, 

 called koyangs, which are able to go long journeys and stand 

 very considerable seas. 



Beiag great mariners they are also great fishermen, 

 and wonderful and ingenious are the numerous methods 

 by which they ensnare and capture the many kinds ot 

 edible fish. One of the most important fisheries is that of 

 a species of herring {Clupea atricauda). 



These herring pass in very large numbers along a 

 constant and well-defined route, and a party of Sangirese 

 foUow them from place to place, catching large numbers 

 of them with an ordinary round throw-net in the shallow 

 shore waters. I cannot, unfortunately, give any accurate 

 account of the movements of these fish, for my various 

 informers gave me very difi'erent, and in many cases con- 

 tradictory, reports. AU that I know is that they appear 

 on the coasts of Tahsse during the month of January 

 or February, and disappear again in March or April. 

 During the herring season, if I might so call it, the favourite 

 place for the fishermen is a httle shallow sandy bay facing 

 due west at the northern end of the island Banka. The 

 fish, when caught, are laid out by the women in rows on 

 strips of wood to dry, and are protected from sun and 

 rain by a thin attap roof. 



Flying-fish are considered by these people, and with 

 justice, to be very palatable, and several methods are 

 employed to catch them. One method is of great interest, 

 as it seems to be precisely the same in its details as a 

 method employed by the natives of Santa Cruz in the 

 Solomon islands. 



A considerable number of wooden floats are connected 

 together by a string, and to each is attached a line and a 

 single unbaited hook. Each float is weighted at one end 



