Explore "The Cruise of the Snark" by Jack London on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
At five in the morning the conches began to blow. From all along the beach the eerie sounds arose, like the ancient voice of War, calling to the fishermen to arise and prepare to go forth. We on the _Snark_ likewise arose, for there could be no sleep in that mad din of conches. Also, we were going stone-fishing, though our preparations were few.
_Tautai-taora_ is the name for stone-fishing, _tautai_ meaning a "fishing instrument. " And _taora_ meaning "thrown. " But _tautai-taora_, in combination, means "stone-fishing," for a stone is the instrument that is thrown. Stone-fishing is in reality a fish-drive, similar in principle to a rabbit-drive or a cattle-drive, though in the latter affairs drivers and driven operate in the same medium, while in the fish-drive the men must be in the air to breathe and the fish are driven through the water. It does not matter if the water is a hundred feet deep, the men, working on the surface, drive the fish just the same.