No. 418.] NOTES ON LIVING NAUTILUS. 821 
flesh is, indeed, eaten, but it is little esteemed. The shells have 
hitherto found little market ; locally they are used as drinking 
cups, or flower vases, and are sometimes cut into roughly 
shaped spoons. But they are now bought extensively by 
Chinese shopkeepers, and at such good prices that there will 
probably be a goodly Nautilus fishery before long. The 
Chinese, I was told, export the shells to China, where they 
are used as material for button-making. 
The best catches of Nautilus are made in deep water, that is, 
according to the estimates of the fishermen, at a depth of from 
250 to 400 bragas (— about 450-700 meters). I notice, how- 
ever, that in the Spanish charts the maximum depth recorded 
is 200 meters, and it is probable accordingly that either the 
fishermen make extraordinary allowance for the sag of their 
line, or that the measurement given on the chart represents 
the maximum sounding limit of the Coast Survey steamer. As 
the water shallows, Nautilus becomes less abundant : in water 
of 100 meters it is still taken, although in small numbers. A. 
single specimen, as Señor Romero informed me while at Bais, 
was collected in that bay by the native divers while gathering 
pearl oysters. There can, I believe, be little doubt of this 
instance, for my informant is well acquainted with Nautilus, 
and states that the animal was brought to him living. It was 
obtained in water less than 4 m. in depth. 
The most favorable station thus far discovered is, as Professor 
Worcester stated, near the small fishing village Manjuyod, 
about six miles distant from Bais. This and other localities 
where I learned that -Nautilus is taken are indicated in the 
accompanying outline map (Fig. 2). That it is taken off the 
villages of Cebu, Malaboyoc, Ginatilan, and Sambuan, I know 
only from hearsay. I was told that a Chinese shopkeeper made 
a tour of these places and collected 3000 shells ; and he 
reported that the fishing was done not far from shore. In 
the locality indicated, near the pueblo of San juan on the 
Southern coast. of Siquijor, Nautilus is taken in relatively 
Shallow water, 100 m. and less; here, however, its abundance 
is inconstant. In this neighborhood I picked up a shell gem 
in diameter. 
