112 UPOLU — MANONO — SAVAII. 



could be so called, was prepared, and in the course of two days every 

 thing was ready. The net was a kind of cheval-de-frise, made of the 

 leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, split and wound round a line, and was 

 little less than half a mile in length. It was more formidable in 

 appearance than in reality. This net was taken out at high water to 

 the coral reef, in three pieces, then fastened together, and thus made 

 to enclose a large extent of water. This space was gradually con- 

 tracted by doubling up the net, which answered the same purpose as the 

 drawing of a seine. The fish did not attempt to pass it, and were thus 

 driven towards a certain point, where a sort of sack of matting had 

 been placed for them to enter. As the fish were gradually enclosed 

 by the mat, and the tide fell, the scene became an animated one. 

 Men, women, and boys, to the number of two or three hundred, were 

 eagerly engaged in picking up or catching the stragglers as they were 

 seen leaping up ; the whole area seemed alive with fish, jumping in 

 every direction, some over the heads of the natives, and thus escaping, 

 while others leaped into hand-nets. About a canoe-load was caught, 

 comprising thirty different kinds of fish, some of which were six or 

 eight pounds in weight, but the majority were smaller. The haul was 

 considered an unsuccessful one, which was attributed to some misun- 

 derstanding and mismanagement among the natives, by which a large 

 stone fell on the net, and allowed many of the fish to escape. 



Savaii is the most western island of the Samoan Group, and is also 

 the largest, being forty miles in length and twenty in breadth. It is 

 not, however, as populous, or as important, as several of the others. 

 It differs from any of the others in its appearance, for its shore is low, 

 and the ascent thence to the centre is gradual, except where the cones 

 of a few extinct craters are seen. In the middle of the island a peak 

 rises, which is almost continually enveloped in clouds, and is the 

 highest land in the group. On account of these clouds, angles could 

 not be taken for determining its height accurately, but it certainly 

 exceeds four thousand feet. 



The interior of the island is rarely entered, even by natives, and 

 has never been penetrated by strangers. The only settlements are 

 upon the shore, along which the natives always journey, and there are 

 no paths across it. 



Another marked difference between Savaii and the other large 

 islands, is the want of any permanent streams, — a circumstance 

 which may be explained, notwithstanding the frequency of rain, by 

 the porous nature of the rock (vesicular lava) of which it is chiefly 

 composed. Water, however, gushes ©ut near the shore in copious 

 springs, and when heavy and continual rains have occurred, streams 



