The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-08-27
SOUTH SEA RATS.
Hunting Them Was One of the Sports OF
Chiefs in Islands of the Pacific.

The rats of the South Sea Islands are OF
q species difRerent from the domestic
pests of civilized communities. They are
rarely seen about the houses, possibly for
the reason that Polynesian dwellings offer
little to attract suoh narauders; but the
fields are full of them, and it results
that gardening suffers from their ravages
Watermelons suffer most oonsplouously,
for the rats wait until the melon is just
right for eating and then the morning
shows carefully e1oayatsd rind The
only way a white man In the South Seas
can make sure Of d melon is to box 1t up
in an old biscuit tin just as soon as it
has attained it's full size. Nor are the
rats restricted to vegetable dist. Eggs
and young chickens vanish overnight IN
less protected by wire nets IN the alb
sence of predatory birds and mammals
| which n.aghI keep down the numbers of
rats, they overrun the islands so COM
pleteIy that they leave regular paths
| through pha woods rs plainly marked as
if trodnen for years by human feet
When the rainy season sets in ths rats
appear about the houses and may render
soreservlne in reducing the numbers of
| insects, which become particularly annoy
| ing at that season. But In the houses of
white people the benefit is hardly great
enough to compensate for the noises which
l the rats make all night long scampering
| over the roofs and floors and squeaking
That the Polynesian rat is indigenous
needs scarcely the testimony of natural
| lists 1t enters into the ancient stories Of
the islanders in countless fables. Ac-
cprling to one tale, the rat was not the
astute animal which he is held to be in
other folk lore. Long ages ago the rat
had wings and flew by day among the
| birds, while the bat was confined to the
| earth. By fattery the bat oajolsd the
rat into lending him his wings. They
! the rat has never been able to get back to
his fy1ng kind; yet the bat, in fear that
| the birds would punish him for his theft
nsver ventures TO fly until night has fall
Gu. Another tale credits the rat with the
| invention of the canoe BE was little
content that the bird and the outtlefsh,
| his constant companions. could pass from
island to island in the elements in which
they were respectively at home while he
was confined to solid ground. He set his
| wits at work and gnawed rude canoe
out of tree trunk. In this he invited
his companions to sail with him. They
had not gone far before wave tipped tn
canoe over and spilled the passengers.
The bird was safe because flap of his
wings raised him into the air, the cuttle-
fish was at home in the water but the rat
would have drowned had it not been for
the cuttleflsh, which took him on his head
and ferried him to shore. The proof OF
this is that the head Of the cuttlefish
shows to this day the marks made by the
rat as he clung to the slippery perch.
After this initial failure at navigating,
the rat spent much thought on the prob
lem, and at last hit upon the device Of at
taching an outrigger TO the left-hand side
of his canoe. This was found an imme-
diate success and thus was made the first
island canoe, which has never changed its
pattern in any particular since the rat
first gnawed it out and made it stable.
All over the Pacific islands the native
rat has been a favorite article of food.
The rat being for the most part vegeta-
BILE feeder, the flesh is dainty and has no
strong flavor. Large hunting parties
we're often sent out from the different
native villages to hunt the rat with spear
and bow and arrow. The whole Polyne-
sian race never advanced to the use of the
| bow and arrow for the desperate purposes
of war, but confined its archery entirely
to the rat hunt. In Hawaii and also in
| Tonga the rat hunt WAS sport confined
to chiefs, sswho frequently showed great
rivalry in the making Of high records.
The chief followed up we'll marked rat
path. while his heaters secuted tie bush
for long distances on each side and by
shouting and thrashing the clumps of
shrubbery drove the game in the direction
of the path. At. the close of the sport the
rival hunters dined on the catch and set
tied the bets. often .amounting to large
number of choice mats. So extensive was
the gam bling on these rat hunts that the
missionaries both in Hawaii and in
Tonga found 1t necessary to suppress the
sport.
RATIoNs IN OUR GREAT WAR.