The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1888-06-08
CAPTURING A MAN EATER.
Hunting tho Shark I'm Hswaii-NoosinH
the Monster While Asleep.

| ~ was Dy the hgnC Oh tOfCneS maze OF the
baked kernels of the candle nut strung
upon cocoa leaf fiber that we drew near
the feet. AS we did so the dip of paddles
was noiseless, and it was by signs alone
that the ''luna," or head fisherman, gave
directions to the rest. By tho smoky,
red light of the torches we could see men
busily scattering about the baked meat
they had brought, and also half chewed
morsels of the ava root. AS they did SO
| there was the CLEAN of the fins and tails
of hundreds of fish darting to and fro
| for the food.
The old fisherman stationed near us
suddenly crouched down, and, touching
the doctor with one lean, brown hand,
| pointed to the water near the stern of the
canoe next to us. We there saw, gleam-
ing in the opalescent depths, two bright
| spots that shone with malignant, green
| ish light. They were set in monstrous,
| shadowy head, beyond which we could
dimly see a huge brown body. Below
| the cool, cruel eyes were traced the out
lines of formidable mouth, that, even
as we looked, opened slowly, disclosing
row upon row of strongly hooked, pearly
white teeth with deeply serrated edges.
ster rolled half over and viciously snapped
at bundle of food sinking near him. 1t
f, was the niuhi, the fiercest and most vo-
racious of his tribe, and as he moved
along the crowd of fish darted away in
terror. Even the great white shark sui
lenly gave place to this tiger of the sea,
who swan slowly about, swallowing the
| food the fishermen kept throwing
| to him. AS he thus moved from place to
place his whole body seemed to exhale a
peculiar light, that streamed from the
tips of his fins and long, unevenly lobed
tail. By the gleam of this peculiar
| phosphorescence his motion could be
closely watched, and finally the expert
| enced fisherman saw that he was becom-
ing gorged. So intent had we been
watching his movements that we had not
noticed that while he was being fed the
| feet of canoes had been silently moved in
nearer the shore. Now, looking down,
we could dimly see the white, sandy bot
tom, and in few minutes were in quite
shallow water, opposite an opening in the
! reef where the surf did not break. Our
progress had been very slow, and now
for a while the canoes halted, while how
ering beneath them was the man eater,
evidently somewhat stupefied by the
ava he had swallowed with the food so
freely given him.
The old Kahuna had, during the whole
performance, kept up his pantomimic
display. though in guarded, quiet man.
ner, while the fishermen kept close watch
upon the shark. He gorged to repletion,
evidently intended to take nap, and so
settled slowly down on the white sandy
bottom. He was the perfect (sub-ma-
rine) picture of overfed helplessness, and
it seemed as though we could almost hear
him snore.
And then commenced q curious exhibit
ton of skill and daring. A moose had
been made in the end of a long, strong
rope, and this was taken by an expert
enced old fisherman, who quietly slid
| overheard from his canoe and allowed
himself to sink to where the man eater
was resting, his body enveloped in that
strange weird light. That was the mo-
ment when, if the shark had been
shamming sleep, he would with one
vigorous sweep Of his. tail and snap of
his Jaws have earned his name of ''man
eater" But no; he was for the time
being powerless, and with infinite dex-
terity and skill the native sue
ceeded in passing the moose over the
brute's head and about his middle. He
then quickly rose to the surface and
clambered into his canoe, and the fleet
was again set in motion. The canoe to
which the line about the sharks body
was attached moved very slowly and
carefully, just enough strain being kept
on the line to raise the captive's body
clear Of the bottom. Sometimes the
shark would be little FESTIVE, and then
we all waited ''until, as the doctor said,
she rolled over and went to sleep
again." ... A., .s
At length we were close in to the
beach, and all but two canoes were
drawn up on the sands to wait for day
light. The two remaining ones lay over
the sleeping niuhi, the end of the line to
which he was secured being taken on
the beach, and then all hands took turns
in watching and sleeping. The job
might have been completed that night,
but this the Kahuna forbade.
eve have the right to snare the man
eater in the night, while he is drunk, "
he said, "but we must wait for daylight,
when he is sober, before we kill him.
| By daylight crowd of people had as
sembled on the beach, and the signal
was given from the canoes that the niuhi
was awake and getting FESTIVE. n So the
long line was seized by hundred hands;
it Strengthened out, and then, amidst the
triumphant song of the Kahuna (who
took immense credit to himself for the
capture) and the yells and laughter OF
the crowd tramping away with the rope,
the enraged man eater, thrashing and
plunging about, was drawn out Of the
water and over the yellow sands. AS
his huge body plunged hither and thither
he snapped savagely at everything, but
in vain. "A crowd of the fishermen were
always about him, raining shower OF
blows on his ugly head, until he lay,
beaten to death, on the shore.-7F. l.
Clarke in San Francisco Chronicle.
Conducive Geo rrOranity.
Cleveland's efforts to keep his men In