Inside the lagoon other fishermen were pursuing their prey in boats, the spearmen standing ready in the bow to embrace every opportunity of striking. Men and women were fishing after the ordinary manner of civilization, and with civilized hooks and lines. Formerly they used hooks of pearl-shell and bone, and also hooks of the roots of the ironwood-tree. But in these modern days the ordinary hooks of commerce are almost the only ones ever seen in Tahiti.
Then there were net-fishers in great number, and with many varieties of net. Seines, purse-nets, casting-nets, dip-nets, all were there, and all handled with the dexterity which is only attained by long practice.
VIEW AMONG THE CORAL BRANCHES.
The guide explained that some of the fishes which were excellent eating at one time of the year were poisonous at another. The poisonous condition is caused by their crunching the coral at the time it is said to be in blossom, and by eating sea-centipedes, which resemble a yard or two of black string with the smallest imaginable legs. All the land-crabs of Tahiti are edible, but several sea-crabs are not; and there is one variety so poisonous that it is only eaten when the eater wishes to commit suicide.
Beautiful shells are brought up from the depths of the waters, but they must be touched with great care, as the spines of many of them are poisonous. One of them, scientifically known as Conus textilis, a beautiful shell of cone-like shape, has been known to cause death in a few hours, the symptoms being much like those produced by the bite of a rattlesnake. Some of the jelly-fishes of England and America have the same poisonous character, but in a much smaller degree.
The guide hailed a boat which was filled with sea-slugs, sea-cucumbers, tripang, or beche-de-mer, as this article of commerce is variously known, and the youths had an opportunity of examining the curious marine product. They were cautioned not to touch them, as these apparently helpless creatures, which resembled sausages or bags of India-rubber filled with sea-water, were not as harmless as they appeared. The guide said they ejected this water when touched; and if it fell on a wound or scratch, or into the eye, it caused intense pain, and sometimes resulted in temporary or even permanent blindness.
The sea-slugs were of all colors—black, red, gray, and two or three varieties of green. The most dangerous is an olive-green one marked with orange spots, and hence called the leopard. When it is disturbed it throws up long filaments like threads or strings, which adhere very tenaciously; and wherever they touch the skin they raise a burning blister.
Most of the sea-slugs are caught in still water by divers, who use forks with long prongs, with which they secure their prey. There is one variety, the red one, which is taken in the surf, but all the others prefer quiet nooks. When a canoe has been filled with these repulsive-looking objects it proceeds to the drying establishment on shore. There the creatures are thrown into a kettle of boiling water sufficiently long to kill them; then they are cleaned, and stewed for half an hour, and then placed on racks of sticks for smoking and drying.