travel, as most small fish do, in
enormous shoals, and keep, I suppose, in the shallow waters to avoid the
kingfish and bonitos, who are good judges in their way, and find these
small creatures exceptionally excellent. The wooden pier ran out perhaps
a hundred and fifty feet into the sea. It was a platform standing on
piles, with openings in several places from which stairs led down to
landing stages. The depth at the extremity was about five fathoms. There
is little or no tide, the difference between high water and low being
not more than a couple of feet. Looking down the staircases, I saw among
the piles in the brilliantly clear water unnumbered thousands of the
fish which I have described. The fishermen had carried a long net round
the pier from shore to shore, completely inclosing it. The fish were
shut in, and had no means of escape except at the shore end, where boys
were busy driving them back with stones; but how the net was to be drawn
among the piles, or what was to be done next, I was curious to learn. I
was not left long to conjecture. A circular bag net was produced, made
of fine strong thread, coloured a light green, and almost invisible in
the sea. When it was spread, one side could be left open and could be
closed at will by a running line from above. This net was let carefully
down between the piles, and was immediately swollen out by the current
which runs along the coast into a deep bag. Two young blacks then dived;
one saw them swimming about under water like sharks, hunting the fish
before them as a dog would hunt a flock of sheep. Their companions, who
were watching from the platform, waited till they saw as many driven
into the purse of the inner net as they could trust the meshes to bear
the weight of. The cord was then drawn. The net was closed. Net and all
that it contained were hoisted into a boat, carried ashore and emptied.
The net itself was then brought back and spread again for a fresh haul.
In this way I saw as many fish caught as would have filled a large cart.
The contrivance, I believe, is one more inheritance from the Caribs,
whom Labat describes as doing something of a similar kind.

Another small incident happened a day or two after, which showed the
capital stuff of which the Dominican boatmen and fishermen are made.
They build their own vessels large and small, and sail them themselves,
not afraid of the wildest weather, and doing the local trade with
Martinique and Guadaloupe. F