minutes the effect of the mixture began to be seen. The
smaller fish were affected first, and began to come to the top of
the water, as if for air. Very soon they were followed by the larger
ones, and soon the water seemed filled with them. They would come
to the top of the water, turn on one side, flop about a little as
if intoxicated, and then sink helplessly to the bottom, where, the
water being nowhere very deep, it was easy to see them and capture
them. The natives secured basket after basket full, getting some so
large that they could not carry them in their baskets. These they
would disable with a "machete" and then tow ashore. The fish did not
eat the "macasla." It seemed simply to have impregnated the water,
making a solution too powerful for them to withstand. They were not
killed by its effects, but acted as if they were drunk. Those which
the natives did not capture soon recovered and swam away as briskly as
ever. Before they were able to do this though, the natives had secured
more than enough food to last them as long as it would remain eatable.

Of course I found the miscellaneous harvest of sea animals which the
"macasla" brought in most interesting, and secured a good many valuable
specimens. Inasmuch as I had contributed very materially to the feast
which was to take place that night, and which lasted all night long,
the people let me wade about among the strangely helpless creatures
and have a first pick of such as I wanted. I had noticed Poljensio
running about, as one of the strongest and most agile of all the men
in the water, and when he came near me once, when my basket was heavy,
I offered to hire him to help me, although I had little idea that
any one would work for wages at such a time. Quite to my surprise he
seemed willing, and joined me in what I was doing. I learned afterwards
that having no family to provide for he was not so much in need of
profiting by the fish harvest as most of the men were. He had worked
in the water all his life, and knew more about the habits of some of
the creatures we caught than I did. When we came to go to my house,
and he saw the specimens I had preserved there, he seemed to take a
more intelligent interest in them than any other man I had ever had,
and I was glad to be able to hire him to work for me all of the time,
barring the few days he reserved for pearl fishing.

The season which followed proved to be an unusually successful one
for the divers. The cr