The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-09-02
STOKES III
HAWAII NLI
Da ing of Skilled
Divers Of the
Deep.

now. as De has always done. occupies
an unique position I'm the Hawaiian ISL
ands There are numerous instances
IN which he was treated as a god. and
IL was supposed that if "a mother were
to feed her Infant to one, the child's
soul would enter the animals body and
the latter would ever after prove a
friend to the family. As the Hawaiian
rarely cared I'm the olden times to be
bothered with raising their children,
this was a convenient and comforting
belief.
Although the waters surrounding the
islands are infested with sharks. II IS
rarely that a native fisherman exhibits
any fear of them. and the fishermen
think nothing of running the most dcs-
perate chances in attacking. While the
native would not consider for a mo-
ment the capture of his own especial
god. he has no computations about TAX
ling some other mans.
The natives divide the sharks fire.
lquenting Hawaiian waters into five spe-
cies, as follows: The Mano- kanaka
Cman shark, is the shark god of the
ancient Hawaians, the Mano. large
white shark, and the Niuhi the largest
and iiercest of all. The last two are
rarely seen in Hawaiian waters. The
Niuh is said to be seen a long way off
at night by the bright greenish light of
its eyeballs. 1t only is much feared by
the natives.
The hammer-headed and white-fn
sharks are captured in gill nets, seines
or bag nets with other fishes. The larg-
err species are taken usually with hook
land line, as no net would be strong
enough to hold them. Shark hooks are
generally made of piece of hardwood
Carvei to the proper shape, with piece
of sharp pointed bone dashed To the end
to form the tip. Few of the hooks have
a barb.
But frequently the fishermen take
sharks with spears. Diving to favor
able spot in about five or six fathoms
of water the fisherman places himself
In half-crouching posture against
large coral rock and waits for the shark
t. appear. When one comes he darts
the spear into vital spot If possible.
Should he fail to kill the fish with the
spear he watches his opportunity and
completes the operation with his knife,
ltcarlcssly engaging at close quarters
Should the shark appear while he is
descending or ascending battle royal
is on at once, with the chances largely
in favor of the shark. as the diver is
unable to use his spear and must trust
to his knife at close quarters AS the
Inative IS apparently as much at home
below the surface as above 1t his Won
derful skill sometimes saves him.
Frequently the natives seeks the
lshark I'm coves and caves below the sur
face, after the fish has gorged itself
and sleeps with its head forced into the
sides of its resting place. The diver
gently slips "A moose about the tail and
the shark is then hauled up and de
Ispatched. The slightest false movement
of the diver would startle and he would
probably regret having attacked. Yet
lcXpcrts have been known to capture six
Ior eight sharks in a day i'm this man
lner.
In the oldan times the catching of the
Niuhi was made a royal sport, but there
has been no regular Niuhi fishery for
lncarly one hundred years. A large
Quantity of the livers of the common
SHARK would be obtained and these,
with a little of the flesh, would be
wrapped up in the leaves of the ii plant
and baked underground. At times, pig
meat would also be used. From fifty to
double canoes would be loaded with the
baked meat and large quantities of the
Ipounaed roots of the ava, mixed with
a little water and put in large gourds
The ilcet would sail many miles out to
sea in the direction from which the
Niuhi was known to appear, and, ar
irving at "A comparatively shallow
place anchor.
Then the baked liver and meat would
be thrown overheard, few bundles at
Il time, to attract the sharks. After IA
few days the grease and scent of the
cooked meat would spread through the
water for many miles in every direc-
ton. About the third or fourth day the
Niuhi would appear. Then bundles OF
the baked meat would be thrown out as
fast as it could swallow them. After
"A while the shark would get compare
lively tame and would come up to one
or the other of the canoes to be fed.
Bundles of the liver with the pounded
ava would then be given to it, and 1t
would soon become not only satisfied,
but also stupefied from the effects OF
the ava. That would be the end. A
moose being slipped over the sharks
head the fleet would up anchor and set
sail for home, the shark following a
willing prisoner, being fed with more
of the meat and ava from time to time.
1t would be led into shallow water and
there stranded and killed. Every part
of its bones and skin was supposed TO
confer unfiinching bravery on the pos
SCISSOR, while the actual captor he who
slipped the moose over the animals
head, would also, ever after, be always
victorious.
Human flesh was also formerly used
las bait, The victim was cut up and
left to decompose for two or three days
in a barrel or tub. In olden times the
use of this kind of bait was in great
vogue with the kings and chiefs 1t
was used because it was much cheaper
and more easily secured than pig or
shark liver was equally acceptable to
the shark, and gave the king or chief
an opportunity to get rid of anyone who
was in his way or to whom he had TAX
en- dislike. Kamehameha /, the Ma
poleon of the group, was a great shark
hunter and kept his victims penned up