The evening times., 1899-12-02
Specimens Of the Finny Tribe
Taken From Deep Water.
A World of Discovery Lying Beneath
the Surface of the Southern Seas-
Near One of the Gilbert islands
The Pala, the Takuo, and the Utu.
(From the London Standard. II }


much to my present regret, / did not
Nearly twenty-six years ago the vessel In
which l sailed as supercargo was wrecked
| on Strong's Island, the eastern outline ui
| the fertile Caroline archipelago, and fol
more than twelve months ! devoted the
| greater part of my time to traversing the
mountainous island from end TO end, or
accompanied by hardy and intelligent ma
tive. in fishing. either In the peculiarly
formed lagoon at the south end, or two
miles or so outside the barrier reef.
Without desiring to bore the reader with
unnecessary details of my own experiences
in the South Seas. / may say that, nine
years after the loss Of Captain Hayes ves-
sci on Strong's Island, l was again ship
wrecked on Peru, one Of the Gilbert, or,
as We traders call them, the Line" ISL
ands. Here ! was SO fortunate as to take
up my residence with one Of the local
traders, Swiss named Frank Voliero who
was an ardent deep sea fisherman, and
whose catches were the envy and wonder
Of the wild and intractable natives among
whom he lived for he had excellent tackle,
which enabled him to fish at depths seldom
tried by the natives. who have no reason 10
20 beyond sixty or eighty fathoms. In the
long interval that had elapsed since my
fishing days In the Caroiines and my ar
rival at Peru Island. l had gained such
experience in my hobby in many other
parts Of the Pacific as falls to few men,
and the desire to fish in deep water. and
get something that astounded the natives
OF the various islands had become a passion
with me. Voliero and myself went out to-
gether frequently. and, did space permit,
/ should like to describe the fortune that
attended us at Peru, as well as my fishing
adventures at Strong's Island.
! have before endeavored to describe that
extraordinary. mountaineering fish. the
palu and the manner OF its capture by the
Malayo- Polynesian islanders Of the eQua-
torial Pacific, and In the present article l
shall try to convey to my readers an idea
Of deep-sea fishing in the South Seas gen.
orally When / was living on the little ISL
and of Nanomaga, Zone Of the Eilice group,
situated about 600 miles to the northwest
of Samoa as the one resident trader l
found myself inf l may use the terms
marine paradise, as far as fishing went.
The Native Fishermen.
The natives were one and all expert fish
ermen, extremely jealous Of their reputa
ton of being not only the best and most
skilIful men in Polynesia in the handling OF
their frail canoes in a heavy surf, but also
deep learned in the lore Of deep-sea fishing.
Ny arrival at the island caused no little
commot!on among the young bloods, each OF
whose chances Of gaining the girl OF his
heart and being united to her by the local
Samoan missionary teacher depended in
great measure upon his ability to provide
sustenance for her from the sea: for Nano-
maga, like the rest Of the Ellice group, Is
but little more than richly verdured sand
bank, based upon foundation of coral. and
yielding nothing to Its people but cocoanuts
and a coarse species Of taro called puraka.
The inhabitants, in their low-lying atoils.
possess no running streams, no fertile soil.
in which. as in the mountainous isles Of
Polynesia, the bread fruit. the yam, and
the sweet potato grow and flourish side by
side with such rich ard luscious fruits as
the orange and banana and pineapple-theS
have but the benefcent cocoanut and the
eyer-giving sea to supply their needs. And
the sea is kind to them. as nature meant
1t to be to her own children. The native
missionary at Nanomaga was Samoan. He
was intended by nature TO be a warrior, a
leader Of men: or-and no higher praise
can give to his dauntless courage-a boat
header on a sperm whaler. Strong of arm
and quick of eye. he was the very man to
either throw the harpoon or deal the death
giving thrust OF the lance to the monarch
of the ocean world; but fate or circum.
stduCc udu uldue ulIu u IUlsSlOldTy lQSttdu.
He was good missionary. but better
fisherman. 3St1
Three miles from Nanomaga is a sub
merged reef, marked on the chart as the
Grand Coral Reef. but known to the ma
tives as Tia Kau, 1.-The reef" 1t is in real
ity vast mountain of coral. whose bases
lie 200 fathoms deep, with fattened sum-
nit of about fifty acres in extent, rising to
within Ave fathoms OF the sea. This spot
Is the resort of incredible numbers of fish,
both deep sea haunting and surface SWIM
ming. Some Of the latter, such as the
pala-a long. scaleless, beautifully formed
fish. with a head of bony plates and teeth
like ripsaw-are of great size, and afford
splendid sport, as they are game fighters,
and almost as powerful az the porpoise
They run to over 100 pounds, and yet are
by no means coarse fish. In the shallow
water on the top OF this mountain reef
there are some eight or nine varieties OF
rock cod. none Of which was of any great
size; but far below, at depth Of from fifty
TO seventy fathoms. there were some truly
monstrous fish Of this species, and / and
my missionary friend had the luck to catch
the four largest ever taken-221 pounds,
20S pounds, 11S pounds, and Ill pounds
had caught when fishing for schnapper in
thirty fathoms OF Camden Haven, on the
coast Of New South Wales, a mottled black
and grey rock cod. which weighed eighty
three pounds, and was assured by the sgd
ney Museum authorities that such weight
for a rock cod was rare In that part of
The Pacific. but that beche- de-mer fisher
men on the Great Barrier Reef had occa-
sionally captured fish Of the same variety
of double that size and weight
Not having boat we fished from canoe |
"a light, but strong and beautifully con-
structed craft, with "whalebacks' fore
and aft to keep 1t from being swamped by |
yeas when facing or running from a surf. |
The outrigger was formed of a very light |
wood, called pua. about fourteen inches |
n circumference. With the teacher and |
myself there usually went with us a third !
nan, whose duty 1t was to keep the canoe
head to wind, for anchoring in deep water |
n such a tiny craft was out OF the ques- |
ion, as we'll as dangerous, should a heavy, |
ish or shark get foul of the outrigger. |
capsizes in the daytime We did not mind, /
,ut at night numbers of gray sharks were |
always cruising around, and they were |
hen especially savage and daring. ~
Leaving the pretty little village, which |
vas embowered in palm grove on the lee 4
'ide Of the island, We would, il intending |
o fish on the Tia Kau. make start before /
lawn, remain there until the canoe was |
oaded to her raised gunwale pieces with |
he weight Of fish, and then return. Night |
ishing on the Tia Kau by a single canoe |
vas forbidden by the kaupule (head men)
ls being too dangerous on account of the |
lharks. and SO usually from ten to twenty |
.anoes set out together. II one did then |
,ome to grief through being swamped or |