The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-11-04

| tobacco leaves which they roll into cigarettes in dry banana leaves. In the houses of the sleepers some arise at intervals to satisfy themselves Of | the tide and the wal1efuness Of the Watehman. When the time has come 1 the watchman raises his shout. to wake the town for the fishing. With unimpaired lungs he shouts the name of the village and it's chief and its maid. Over and over again he repeats his cry at full voice. Each man as he aWakes takes up the same shout and the chorus grows until every man in the village is shouting at the top of his lungs, and the children, glad of a chance to bG noisy without reproof, run screaming over the green and to every house. There is more shouting as the men and women drag their canoes down into the water, now very shall low in the lagoon. If white people are going for the fishing, they must share a seat in canoe, for where the pablo rise in the reef the water at this stage will be too shallow for boat. With more shouts the fleet announces it's readiness, and then begins boat song, in the singing of which all the fleet joins. To the tune of this song the paddles dig the dark sea, scarcely light
 ed by the flag end of the old moon, still far down in the eastern sky.
 The oldest of the wise old men lead the way. Each one has certain spot in mind where the worms arise most abundantly, and to each old man is attached faction which intends to reap the advantage of his experience. From many other villages canoe fleets are making for the same small extent of reef. The lagoon is filled with the harmonies of the boat songs, which al- ways sound best when the time is marked by the snap of the loom of the paddle against the side of the canoe. That gives chance for the expression ot their staccato character, which is lost when the singers are timed by the swinging of an oar. As the many fleets draw near the chosen stretch of reef the confusion in the dim moonlight be- comes great and steadily greater Each one strives to get into some par ticularly favored pool and has to meet the good-natured determination of oth- CTS to keep him out. There is loud call ing, shouts, laughter, abundant n ise of good humor. From every side in the darkness rise shrieks suddenly cut short as some canoe is overturned and it's occupants are spilled, possibly into shallow water, possibly into some deep pool among the coral shrubbery; it's all one to the islander, who is as much at home in the water as on the ground
 Children on their crazy rafts of bam- boo push out recklessly to the very a1 If Ia vuL are breaking. and some unexpected larger wave lifts the haft and carries them out to sea in an uncomfortable plight, from which they must be res cued, or else their frail craft falls to pieces under them and they must swim and wade ashore. All is loud noise and good temper Canoes may get in the way of other canoes, the rafts of the youngsters may be nuisance, half the fleet may be capsized in succession, but there is no note of auarrelline. All are out for pleasure as well as fishing, and they are bound to take 1t as it comes.
 With all this shouting and scram- bling and ducking the fleets of canoes manage to get into chosen places and to keep in the places already won by much manoeuvring. There is volley of shouts to find where this one is and where that. Late corners are hailed with derisive calls and ieerng shouts, as they try to wedge themselves in among the earlier corners. Some one too eagerly scanning the surface of the water for signs of the pablo capsizes a canoe-they do go over with wonderful ease, despite the outrigger--and then the whole reef resoUnds with questions as to whether he expects to dive for the worms or not. As the time goes on in the darkness the tide goes out and out until 1t seems as if it could get no low CT. The sea grows more and more lumpy as still more sprays of coral are laid bare and the pools become more and more confined These signs cause a hush to fall over the reef, the hush of expectation with which it is natural and human to await the coming of something that takes place only at long intervals. The old men who are the leaders in the fishery pass orders, which are repeated from canoe to canoe in whispers, that all sound shall cease, lest the worms be frightened out of their annual anpearance--a profound belief of this fishery not supported by any evidence There is now no sound but the booming concussion of the waves on the seaward side of the reef and the soft swish of some net lightly swept over the surface of the water by some one eager to be the first to find the favorite worm.
 One moment it is certain that the sur face of the lagoon is empty the sweep ing nets bring nothing, the sharpest eyes can see nothing but the black wa ter. Then some one starts a shout that the pablo has come to the surface. Before he can finish his call it is swal- lowed up in the shouts from every ca- noe along the reef Tn the same in- stant the worms have apreared the la goon is blotched with great masses of them where moment before there was nothing, and the fishermen use the shallow nets like shovels and scoop them into the canoes as fast as the arms can move. It is not necessary to go in search of the worms if one is on a spot where they rise at all. As fast as they are scooped from the surface oth- CTS rise and may be scooped up in turn They seem to rise entirely within the space of quarter of an hour. for after that time has elapsed a pool scooped clean remains empty of the worms. There is something uncanny in it. The