The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-14
SOUTH SEA RATS.
Hunting Them Was One of the Sports of
Chiefs in Islands of the Pacific.

Chiefs in Islands of the Pacific.
The rats Of the South Sea Islands are OF a
species different 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 such
marauders: but the fields are full OF them. and
1t results that gardening suffers from their
ravages. Watermelons suffer most conspicu-
ously. for the rats wait until the melon is Just
right for eating and then the morning shows a
carefully excavated rind. The only way a white
man in the South Seas can make sure OF a
melon Is to box it up in an old biscuit
tin Just as soon as it has attained its full size.
Nor are the rats restricted to a vegetable diet.
Eggs and young chickens vanish overnight un-
less protected by wire nets. In the absence Of
predatory birds and mammals which might
keep down the numbers of the rats. they over
run the islands so completely that they leave
regular paths through the woods as plainly
marked rs iftrodden for years by human feet.
When the rainy season sets in the rats appear
about the houses and may render some service
in reducing the numbers OF insects. which be-
come particularly annoying at that season. But
in the houses of white people the benefit is hard
~ great enough to compensate for the noises
which the rats make all night long camper
ing over the roofs and floors and squeaklng.
That the Polynesian rat is indigenous needs
scarcely the testimony of naturalists. 1t en-
ters into the ancient stories of the islanders in
countless fables. According 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 few by day among the birds.
while the bat vas confined to the earth. By
hattery the bat cajoled the rat into lending him
his wings. They were. never returned, and
since that time the rat has never been able to
TIA tn" the BIRDS eH is w %Sihf punish prnd yf him nnf Tor Phi Ills It th lehr
never ventures to fy until night has fallen.
A neither t. tale so credits IT. the 81 rat it., with the
that the bird and the cuttleish. his constant
Gi &c mp elsmsn could lie w9h asf from from w Island 9es to island
at home while he was confined to solid ground.
He set his wits at work and gnawed a rude
his coompanions to sail With him. They had not
gone far before a wave tipped the canoe over
safe Because sp. a a I flap Of his Wings raised him into
water. but the rat would have drowned had it
on his head and terried, him to shore. The
proof Of this is that the head OF the ,cuttlefish
as. he chung to the slippery perch. After this
initial, failure, at navigating the rat spent much
the device Of attaching an ontrigGcrto the left
hand side of his canoe. This was found an i'm
mi siand canoe Suee %bicah" has sn neye Ms changed hanged its it's n patC
tern in any particular since the rat first gnawed
it out and made it stable.
been a ~favorite article of food. The rat being
is dainty and has no strong flavor. Large
hunting parties were often sent out from the
spear and bow and arrow. The whole Poly
nesian 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 y Tonga the rat
who frequently showed great rivalry in
the making of high records. The chief fol-
lowed up a well-marksd rat path, while his
each side and by shouting and thrashing the
clumps of shrubbery drove the game in the di-
the rival hunters dined on the catch and settled
the bets. often amounting to a large number OF
choice mats. So extensive was the gambling
on these rat hunts that the missionaries both
in Hawaii and in Tonga found 1t necessary to
suppress the sport.