Deep-Sea Fishing in Polynesia . 
ITH the exception of the coast of New 
Zealand I do not think that there can 
be better deep-sea fishing grounds in the whole 
Pacific than the calm waters encompassing the 
many belts and clusters of the low-lying coral 
islands of Polynesia. Unlike the fortunate 
inhabitants of such mountainous but highly 
fertile groups as Samoa, the Society, Cook’s, 
and Austral Islands, the people of these low, 
sandy atolls literally depend upon the sea for 
their existence; for, beyond coconuts, the 
drupes of the pandanus palm, and a coarse 
vegetable called puraka (a species of gigantic 
taro), they have little else but fish to 
support existence. The result of these con¬ 
ditions is that they are very expert fishermen 
and divers, and the writer, during a twenty-six 
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