Beche-de-mer, called by the Chinese Tripang, and by the Polynesian, Rodi, and in the South Sea and Caroline group, Menika, is of that species of mollusc classed as the Holothurides. It has the appearance of a great slug or leech, and like most other marine animals of the same type, lives by process of suction upon microscopic animalcules. It has the form of an elongated sac of a gristly consistence, traversed internally by strong muscles. It grows usually to about eighteen inches long and somewhat less in circumference. The labor of collecting and drying the fish is performed partly by the crews of the vessels engaged in this business, who are commonly Polynesian natives, with the exception of the mate or trading master or interpreter, and such islanders as they bring along with them, if it be a desert or uninhabited place, or otherwise the aborigines whom they find in possession. There is one advantage in bechede-mer fishing that upon the great desert reefs where it most abounds the fishers never need be idle. In calm weather they gather the red kind off the top of the reef just inside the foam of the breakers. In stormy times they dive for the black kind inside the lagoons.

METHOD OF FISHING.

From its size and color, it is plainly visible to a depth of at least ten fathoms, even when the water is much ruffled by the winds-the more so as it lives on the smooth white sandy bottom. The material required for the prosecution of this business is of the most limited character, merely a boat, a few axes to cut building material and fire-wood, a supply of long knives for all hands, and in some cases two or three

try-pots, such as are used on board of whale-ships, with buckets and sluice-forks. The first preliminary operation is to build two houses-one for the curing of the fish, which is done by smoking, as bacon is cured in our own country; the other, for the purpose of storing it after being sufficiently cured.

When in proper condition it brings readily in China or Japan five to six hundred dollars per ton, with hardly a limit to supply or demand.

CONTRACTS WITH THE NATIVES.

The terms upon which the laborers are engaged for beche-de-mer fishing depends upon the circumstances of the case. "Beach-combers," who have native wives and families, commonly make up a party of their wives' relations and near neighbors, and remunerate them for their work by sharing a part of the proceeds. Adventurers who sail small vessels, and have no settled home on the islands to which the laborers belong, hire them for a specified time at a fixed rate of wages, under a written agreement, which is witnessed by their chief or king. Although in the majority of cases no one understands the document but the white men concerned in its concoction, yet the most ignorant of these natives are pleased to see a promise written down, there being to their untutored minds something sacred and binding connected with the operation. Here follows a verbatim translation of a memorandum of this kind between one "Uroroa" (that is Longbeard, a white man known to the natives by that name, as Polynesians generally invent a name from some physical peculiarity for any European whom they have dealings with) and certain people of Nukinivano :

"We, men and women of Nukinivano, whose marks are put at the bottom of this paper, agree to go with the captain Longbeard to the island of Gannet Cay, and to fish for beche-de-mer for six moons, and to be paid each man or woman fourteen fathoms of calico, or twenty-one plugs of tobacco per moon, or other things as we like, such as knives or needles, at a value as we have before agreed; and at the end of six moons, to be returned to our home, if the wind should be fair for us to come back at that time. The chief, whose name is Dogfish, shall superintend the work. The captain Longbeard, shall tell the chief Dogfish, what the people are to do, and Dogfish shall tell the people. The captain Longbeard, shall not beat any of the people. The people shall not fight among themselves, but if there be any quarrel among them, they shall refer it to the captain Longbeard and the chief Dogfish. If any one of the people die, that which is due him or her shall be entrusted to the chief Dogfish, to be given to his or her family. The captain Longbeard shall supply to all the people, for nothing, lines and fish-hooks, that they may catch themselves food. All food and fresh water shall be taken charge of and fairly divided by the chief Dogfish. Twenty-eight days shall count for each moon; out of each moon, shall be four days' rest, that is to say, the people shall work six days, and on the seventh day they shall do no work. They shall not lie to the chief Dogfish, or be lazy, sulky or dissatisfied. There is no more to say."

Here follow the names of the people, with their marks. The contract they will keep to the letter, not only performing the duties imposed upon them, but adding deeds of bravery, kindness, and an obedience to

the orders of their employers, that might be copied with great benefit in more civilized lands.

COCOANUT.

One of the great sustaining products of nearly all the groups of the Pacific is the fruit of the cocoanut tree (cocus nucifera), a species of the palm. The cocoanut is so well known that but a passing allusion seems all that is necessary. Yet its manifold uses, with that of the tree on which it grows, if described at any length, would fill a volume. In these latitudes it has a very luxuriant growth, and gives to the lazy natives a never ending supply, and at all times of the year something to eat, drink and wear, with abundant material for clothing and shelter. It may be found growing in the valleys, on the hill and mountain sides and tops, and on reefs and sandy shores, with its roots laved by the waters of the sea. It grows to a height of sixty or one hundred feet, from one foot to two feet in diameter, bearing fruit seven years after it is planted, and lives about eighty years. Each tree furnishes a hundred or more nuts a year, while a wise provision of nature so arranges it that the natives may find the nut in all of its many stages of progress before ripening, and all on the same tree. The nut, when fully ripe and ready to fall, is covered with a thick fibre, that prevents it from breaking or bursting when it strikes the ground. From the upper end grows a flag or tuft that guides it in its descent, and causes it to rest with its proper end down, ready to take root and reproduce its species. Again, this fibrous covering is impervious to water, and should the nut fall in or be carried by the waves or surf out to sea, it drifts and floats with the currents,

winds or tides, until cast upon some distant island, reef or beach, to take root and grow, very often furnishing subsistence and shelter to unfortunate castaways upon otherwise barren islands.

TRADE IN, AND VALUE OF, THE NUT.

An immense trade has been carried on for years with China, Japan and Europe, in the preparation, shipment and manufacture of cocoanut oil. For this purpose the nuts are gathered, the covering taken off, when they are piled in great heaps on rude platforms about a foot above the ground. This is to prevent the absorption of moisture from the earth, and consequent germination. The nuts are allowed to remain in this condition for several months, with frequent turnings and handling. After drying sufficiently (ascertained by average samples taken from the heaps), they are broken open, and the "copra," or dried cocoanut kernel, is ready for shipment. In Europe it is consumed in great quantities, the copra being pressed by machinery much like that used in extracting oil from flaxseed, the residuum being in the form of flaxseed cake, and sold all through Europe as a valuable food for cattle. For this latter reason, it has been found more profitable to ship in the form described, in preference to extracting the oil at the islands.

It is not an over-estimate to suppose that in a cocoanut plantation the trees will number sixty-four to the acre, within a fraction of twenty feet apart, and that each tree will produce one hundred nuts per annum. These will produce copra equal to five hundred pounds per thousand, and from this, again, twenty-five gallons of cocoanut oil can be pressed,