The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1900-12-02

NATIVE KNITTING SHARK.
is valueless from q commercial point of
view. but To these islanders he is the
source of all. or nearly all. their in
come. The islander exchanges Jacks
fins and tail with the trader for to-
bacco, calico. guns. ammunition and
gin. The natives wife when she meets
her brown skinned lord and master on
the beach as he returns from fishing
looks anxiously into the blood stained
canoe to see how many kapakans, as
fms are called. be has taken. Two or
three dozen. when dried, mean to her
a new hat. trimmed perhaps with q
bright green ribbon on a red and vel
low background. that the trader show
ed her some time previous. Then she
picks up the take" puts It into a
basket. and an hour later Jacks mo
tive power is suspended on a line be-
tween two cocoanut trees, drying for
market
Wonderfully constructed craft are
their canoes They are made Of small
strips Of wood sewed together with
cocoanut Irvine called cinnet- Perhaps
20 or more canoes go out together.
There is no need to go far. Just outside
the reef will answer. There Jack Is
waiting. accompanied by relatives of
many different sizes. male and female.
Lying upon the grating Of crossed
sticks reaching from the outrigger OF
the canoe TO the gunwale is the tackle.
Rude IL is, but effective. II consists of
a naturally formed wooden hook, cum
ningly trained when II was a young
tree root into the proper shape, and 40
fathoms OF strong cocoanut fiber rope
as thick as whale line and fully as
strong.
Taking flying fish or piece of a
shark caught the previous day, the ma
tive ties the bait around the curve of
the great hook. Then be lowers the
line. II sinks quickly, as the hook Is
heavy. Perhaps. If Jack is big fellow,
he will olstinately refuse to turn after
swallowing the hook and will make q
strenuous effort to get away deep into
the blue gloom of a hundred fathoIns
below Meanwhile every other canoe
has probably hooked a shark, and there
Is wild clamor and much had Ian
guage as the lines get fouled and ca
hoes bang against each other. Per
haps four or five will be IN a bunch,
one or two sharks lashing the water
into foam in the middle and turning
over and over with lightning rapidity
In the hope Of parting the line or
smashing the outrigger. The latter re-
suit Is usually fraught with much dan
ger.
After the lapse of considerable time
the natives who are fast to the largest
shark may possibly call to their COM
rades that the fish is too powerful to
bring alongside and kin and will ask
for an implement known to whalers as
drogue-a fiat piece. of wood which,
attached to the end Of a line gives
such resisting power that the shark or
whale dragging ii behind is soon ex-
hausted. The drogue is passed along
from some other canoe and then made
fast to the end OF a small but strong
line. At the loose end of the line is a
moose, and as Jack lifts his tail out of
the water the steersman slips 1t over.
and away go the line and drogue, the
man who is holding on to the main line
casting all of the slack overheard. so
rs to give the shark plenty of room In
which to exhaust himself
Another method employed by these
islanders in killing sharks is to swim
about In the infested waters with a
knife clutched between the teeth. and
when Jack approaches the swimmer
grasps the knife in his hand and
thrusts 1t to the hilt into the sharks
stomach. This is very hazardous
undertaking, however. and. as it fire.
quently results in the death of the ma
tive, it is not at all popular.
THOMAS +. CLARK.