COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



505 



away tliero is no convenient market, for, with the exception of the 

 settlements on the reservation, which contain about one-third of the 

 total population of the island, there are ver^- few people li\'ing- on its 

 northern side, the most of the inhabitants being- on the southern, or 

 leeAvard, side. To reach these by water would necessitate a long jour- 

 ney around one or the other end of the island, while to go overland to 

 the nearest settlement would necessitate an 11-mile journey on foot 

 after the cliff at the l)ack of the reservation had been surmounted. 



In 1003, in order to till out the very small catch of their own fisher- 

 men, the board of health purchased 15,753 i)ounds of fresh fish from 

 the fishermen of Halawa, a small nonleprous settlement some few 

 miles to the westward of the reservation. Even with this addition the 

 total amount to be distributed among an afilicted p>)pulation of 855 

 was pitifully small, amounting virtually to 30.35 pounds per year to 

 each person. There has been complaint l)v persons unacquainted with 

 the circumstances that the board of health >\as making- fresh fish too 

 important an item in the diet of the lepers, but the iibove would cer- 

 tainly indicate that this coiitention.was not well founded. Some salted 

 and dried fish is also distril>uted among- the lepers, but 1 am informed 

 that the amount is quite small. 



THE FISHERIES OF NIIHAU. 



This, the most westerlv of the inhabited islands of the group, is 

 15 miles from Kauai, and has an area of 97 square miles. The greater 

 pai't of it is a low plain composed of an uplifted coral reef and sub- 

 stance washed down from the mountains, while the hilh' portion is 

 destitute of peaks and ridges. It has a population of 172, is used 

 exclusively as a sheep ranch, and fishing- is carried on in a very desul- 

 tory manner by the employees of the ranch and their families. Should 

 more fish be caught titan they can consume the surplus is carried 

 across the strait to Waimea, on Kauai, and sold there. A portion of 

 the catch is dried and sold. 



The following tal)les show the condition of the fisheries in 1903: 



Table sJiou-i)ig tJii' Jislii'Dneu engaged and the boats, ap],arati(s, and sJiore properit/ used in 

 the fisheries of Niiliau in 1903. 



