, 1888-05-09
CAPTURING A MAN EATER.
Hunting the Shark in notwithstanding
. the Monster While Asleep.

Though it did not take us long to reach
the spot where the man eater was known
to be, yet night had fallen on them, and
it was by the light of torches made of the
baked kernels of the candle nut strung
upon cocoa leaf fiber that we drew near
the fleet. 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 the 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 WINS the CLEAN of the fins and tails
of hundreds of fish darling 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
next to us. We there saw, gleam-
ing in the opalescent depths, two bright
spots that shone with a malignant, green
ish light. They were set in n monstrous.
shadowy head, beyond which we could
dimly see a huge brown body. Below
the cool, cruel eyes were traced the out
lines of n formidable mouth, that, even
as we looked, opened slowly, disclosing
row upon row OF strongly hooked, pearly
white teeth with deeply serrated edges.
AS this frightful mouth opened the mon
ster rolled half over and viciously snapped
at a bundle of food sinking near him. 1t
was the niuhi, the f~iercest 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,
NNhn gNyorn glDyH1Vr about p,r,11,,r,lr a.,
food the fishermen kept throwing
TO him. AS he thus moved from place to
place his whole body seemed TO exhale IA
peculiar light, that streamed from the
tips of his fins and long, ~uncvenly lobed
tail. BY the CLEAN 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
fleet Of canoe had been silently moved in
nearer the shore. Now, looking down.
we could dimly see the white, sandy bot
tom, and in n 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 NOES halted, while hoy
crinE beneath them was the man eater.
evidently somewhat stupcfed 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
''l""I ,".G"S" - " E""l"'"' i"let man
upon the shark. lie gorged to repletion,
evidently intended to take a nap, and SO
,',,''' 9''TIl "oNH Oh '"' WINE sandy
'''''"'"' i' vas 'm' p'lip't NSup-tla-
I'M l"oI'll' ~ oN,'Itu heili'SSheSs' n
II seemed t'ouEh we could almost hear
nun SnoTo'
N"r ~ commenced curious eNhlbl-
WI VI sHi" anu "aI'nE' "a moose had
"oen ii'Ic IN the nc Oh a long strong
'"i"' "hu 'ImS WIS taken ny an expert
I,1'' o1 llSlrulth' VINO quietly slld
i!o," nus caloe ana MOVED
us 70 s'nH 10 where the man eater
"us ieS'"E ,s p"'S UhVcIoped IN that
7N'!Re weIru iiEht, mat was the mo
nl'iI Mneh' II ule shark had been
e!t"Iln"s SieeP, ne would with one
,iEGlou9 weep VI ms tHl ana snap OF
lt Jrm ~ nv oHriGu M name OF man
,i;,' i'ut no ne WIS lor me tlihe
n,'mE 'eHS' ana WIN minute deX-
'''ny anu 7N"l IN" haliNe sue
ruo ~ igSai"B 'nt nooSe oyer tne
RUE > ilShI anu "oout nus iliddle. lie
T." I"'INiS i"SE |" 'he surface ana
~ 'n'o ia 't''"'' anu 'he meet
"? 50, " III i'"'."t' IL canoe 10
Nv IN "pou' ne SHARK Dooy
arac"T" i i. 49, ,,l? H,oMiH anu
Ivy JUS, '''"uE" S'l"lh u'inE kept
om -, ~ ~ i"i9o " '"l'lIe b pody
e C ~ ""',H.i' puIne'ln'T7 the
,r" al ',a;to1 &c ',,n. 49,, =" ieSLiNG' anu lnch
"bo LII ra 40 Sno toCUor salu,
~ -" ''N' an" "eh' 10 sleeP
eAt oroh
hoa"h as ", W "ti" op'So III 10 tne
- "iI H. -. W. onioes were
~ m -. az 9i'',.1 70 al y u"y-