low-water; the rise and fall,
ascertained by a tide-pole set up here, was only four feet.

NATIVE MODE OF FISHING.

I had a good opportunity of witnessing the mode of fishing with the seine
practised by the natives of the Louisiade. One of these nets, apparently
of the usual dimensions, measured 130 feet in length, with a depth of a
yard only. The upper border is supported, when in the water, by numerous
small thin triangular floats of light wood, and the lower margin is
strung with a series of perforated shells--chiefly single valves of Arca
scapha--serving as sinkers. The cordage is of a white colour, very light,
and neatly laid up, the meshes are an inch wide, and the centre of the
net ends in a purse-like bag. A party of eight men poled along the
shallow margin of the reef in their canoe, using the seine at intervals.
When a shoal of fish is seen, three men lay hold of the net and jump out
into the water--it is run out into a semicircle, the men at the extremes
moving onwards with one person in advance on each side splashing the
water with long poles and stones to drive the fish towards the centre.
The canoe now makes a sweep and comes up to the opening, when the net is
closed in upon it, and hauled inboard with its contents. This mode of
fishing would appear to be practised also at some of the islands of
Polynesia, for similar seines are exhibited in the ethnological gallery
of the British Museum from the Feejees and elsewhere. In addition to the
seine, we had occasionally observed in canoes alongside the ship a small
scoop-net with a very long handle, and once procured a fishing hook of
singular construction. This last is represented by the right hand figure
of the accompanying woodcut. It is seven inches in length, made of some
hard wood, with an arm four and a half inches long, turning up at a sharp
angle, and tipped with a slightly curved barb of tortoise-shell
projecting horizontally inwards an inch and a half.

POISONOUS FISH.

During the afternoon one of the crew of a boat upon the reef, while
incautiously handling a frog-fish (Batrachus) which he had found under a
stone, received two punctures at the base of the thumb from the sharp
dorsal spines partially concealed by the skin. Immediately severe pain
was produced which quickly increased until it became intolerable, and the
man lay down and rolled about in agony. He was taken on board the ship in
a state of great weakness. The hand was considerably swo