The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1898-07-01
DIVERS OF TUAMOTU.
THEY DO WONDERFUL THINGS DOWN
...,a-- DEEP IN THE SEA.
Equally ut Home Ii. Hunting For the Pre-
cious Pearl, spoarinG Fish Under the
Coral. Reefs and Staying Man Eating
Sharks Under Water


cious Pearl. spearinE Fish Under the
Coral. Reefs and Staying Man Eating
Sharks Under Water.
l.. Nowhere in the world is fishing carried
on in so remarkable manner as at the
Hawaiian Islands, where the art not only
illustrates peculiar and what would be
deemed impossible methods, but the fact
that without armol and the appliances of
the modern diver certain natives ply their
vocation under water.
when at the island, " said a natural
ist, II wished to Investigate the methods
Of fishing and was referred TO q native
who Was said to lie very skillful in the
methods still in vogue. ! was fortunate
in finding the man on tho beach, and he
very readily invited me to accompany him
and his son, a boy OF IS, who was also u
clever fisherman.
"As we rowed out he told me that they
hook fish by spearins in two ways, one by
striking from the boat, the other by going
under water and taking the fish in their
native element. The latter method he pur-
posed following on the present occasion.
Tho spear WIS perhaps eight feet long, of
very hard polished wood and very slender,
and bore at its tip a polished steel or iron
spear; point without barb Of any kind.
This was essentially an underwater spear,
the man explained, yet without ocular
demonstration it would have been difficult
TO make any one believe that man could
descend beneath the surface and spear
fish.
ION reaching q certain portion of the
reef the native ceased rowing and began
to look down into the water. Finding the
head Of coral which no was in search of,
he took tho slender pole in hand, stepped
over and disappeared. 1t was necessary
10 move the boat away few PAGES, so that
the fish would not be alarmed, which pre-
vented me from observing the whole oper-
alton.
THE native remained under water at
least three minutes, then suddenly came
up with q large .>ookfish impaled on the
sDSar. He lifted himself into the boat and
did not appear to be Inconvenience by the
extraordinary dive, soon slipping over
again Hanging to the side of the boat, he
inhaled several times rapidly. Then just
before he disappeared he filled his lungs to
the utmost extent. i found that when he
reached tho bottom he took crouching
position by coral head or rock, resting on
his left leg, with the right extending be-
hind.
1.-THE fish seemed very tame. and when
they passed within reach the diver thrust
his spear quickly into one, often sending
it entirely through the fish and inpaling
another, so that several of them were often
taken before tho dive ended. This DIVER
thought nothing of remaining beneath
the water two minutes and told some re-
markable stories of the powers of his an
oestors in defying the elements, His
grandfather, he claimed, Was famous all
over the island ~ a great shark hunter,
and Whenever native was killed by
shark he was called TO revenge the deed,
and while he had killed number of these
animals he was never injured by one.
I'm shark hunting he was armed with
q sharp stick of hard wood abaut Tour feet
long and long slep.ier knife as sharp rs
it could be made, and when the shark
was seen he boldly entered the water and
waited. When the shark approached, he
would lie perfectly quiet, but if it turned
to seize him quick as flash no divcd
and thrust tho stick into tho mouth or
gills of tho animal and with the other
hand ripped up tho lower surface of the
shark by plunging the sharp knife into
it and hauling it up, often literally laying
it open with one stroke. Even this would
not dcmoralize some sharks, and they
would still attempt to seize the active enc
my, who would grasp it by a fin and lay
ing alongside repeatedly stab IT. "
Such an attack made against n shark
la its native clement requires the greatest
courage and must be the result of pecul-
iarly savage nature on the part of the
Il; ucl,a rt-i 10 Nor
some, clumsy brute, turning slowly, ex-
eept when exeIfear and it is an easy mat
{qp for 1.-THE, quick aetioned man to slip
beneath one. sometimes the tables are
turned and the shark becomes the aggres-
sor, but instances of this kind in northern
waters are rare. The most extraordinary
instance occurred in Massachusetts lay,
where q large shark rose out Of the water
and after several attempts sank boat by
fslIigs, al 1t and carried of the fisherman,
Che act being seen from the deck of
schooner lying not far away, whose crew
were powerless to interfere.
The natives of Tahiti and Tpanotu are
perfectly at home in the water and ac-
eamplish marvellous feata in diving. Tho
pearl oyster diver here is paid from $50 to
s3O per month. His sole outfit is the
cloth about his loins and a pair of spec
tacles the latter used at the surface to en-
able him to distinguish the shells at the
bottom. The Hindoos are popularity sup
posed to be the finest divers, but they can
not compare with the divers of Tuamotu.
The former go to tho bottom by means of
Weights held there by ballast which is con-
tanned In belt, but the YuarpatN divers
merely plunge into the water and swim
down with remarkable celebrity to dis
tappa sometimes of $50 feet, almost the
greatest limit of divers In armor, who
have, 1t Is believed, remained for short
time at depth of 200 feet The Hindoo
remains below the surface so or 90 seconds,
while the Tuamotu thinks nothing of two
minutes and can remain at tbis depth for
three minutes. The average dive Of these
men is ~ minutes, two or three minutes
being exceptional, but not uncommon
Detroit Free Press,