The Delta independent., 1888-09-11
ATIGER OF THE SEA.
How the Sandwich Islanders Take the Man.eat.
Ing Shark.

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How the Sandwich Islanders Take the Man.ea,.
| Ing Shark
| The doctor and 1 were enjoying a
much needed rest in little cottage
at Waikiki, Honolulu's ideal water
ing place, says writer in the San
Francisco Chronicle. Strolling along
the beach one day we came across n
group of native fishermen repairing
a safron-colored net, 100 feet long,
perhaps, and ten feet wide.
After asking few questions of the
natives the doctor told me that they
were going off I'd try TO capture one
Of the huge sharks known as ''niuhi,"
or man-eaters, and that they had of
lered to take us if we promised to sit,
still in the canoe.
Everything being in readinss, two
or three of the lighter canoes were
launched, and their occupants pad
died out to sea to discover some
signs of the wished-for man-eater,
while we were directed to be ready to
embark at any time. 1t came-it
took us but q few moments to reach
our canoe and jump in.
Though it did not take US long to
reach the spot where the man-eater
was known to be, yet night had fallen,
and it was by the light Of torches
made of the baked kernels of CANDLE
nut, strung upon cocoa-leaf fiber,
that we drew near the fleet. BY the
smoky, red light of the torches we
could see men busily scattering about
the baked meat they had brought,
and also half ehewed 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 food. Now and then a larger one
than therest, with sides glowing with
phosphorescent light, would dart
among the smaller fry, scattering
them right and left.
"They are the 'manoa kanaka, y"
whispered the doctor, "the shark god
of the old Hawaiians. And, there !
there! he added quickly, as mas
sive bulk rose from the depths below,
''there is the 'mano keokeo,' the
great white shark"
just then 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, cleaning
in the opalescent depths, two bright
spots that shone wiuh a malignant,
greenish light. They were set in a
monstrous, shadowy head, beyond
which we could dimly see huge
brown body.
1t was the. .niuhi, the fiercest of his
tribe. and as he moved along the
crowd of fish darted away in terror.
Even the great white shark sullenly
gave way 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 ex-
hale peculiar light that streamed
from the tips of his fins
and long, unevenly-lobed tail.
BY the CLEAN of this peculiar
phosphorescence his motion could
be closely watched, and finally the
experienced fishermen saw that he
was becoming gorged. So intent
had we been watching his movements
that we had not noticed that while
he was being fed the fleet of canoes
had been silently moved in nearer the
shore. Our progress had been very
slow, and now for awhile the canoes
halted, while lowering beneath them
was the man-eater, evidently some
what stupefied by the ava he had
swallowed with the food SO freely
given him.
And then commenced a curious ex-
hibition of skill and daring. A moose
had been made in the end of long,
strong rope, and this was taken by
an experienced old fisherman, who
quietly slid overheard from his canoe
and allowed himself to sink where the
man-eater was resting, his body en-
veloped in that strange, weird light.
This was the moment when, if the
shark had been shaming sleep, he
would, with one vigorous
sweep of his tail and snap of his
Jaws, have earned his name of "man-
eater'b
But no; he was, for the time being,
powerless, and with infinite dexterity
and skill the native succeeded in pass
ing the moose over the brute's head
and about his middle He then
quickly rose to the surface and clam
bered into his canoe, and the fleet
was again set in motion. The canoe
to which the line about the shark s
body was attached moved very slow
ly 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 a lit
tie restive, and then we all waited
"until" as the doctor said, ''herolled
over and went to sleep again"
At length we were close to the
becabh, and all but two canoes We're
drawn up on the sands to wait for
daylight. The two remaining ones
lay over the sleeping ninhi, 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
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