Evening star., 1902-08-15
BIG SHARKS IN HAWAII
NATIVE FISHERMEN SHOW LIT.
TIE FEAR OF SEA TIGERS. ,
The Animal in Some Instances Treatet
as a God-Different
Species.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
The shark now, as he has always done,
occupies an unique position in the Ha-
waiian Islands There are numerous in
stances in which he was treated as god,
and it was supposed that If mother were
to feed her infant to one the childs soul
would enter into the animals body and the
latter would ever after prove a friend to
the family. As the Hawaiians rarely cared
in the olden times to be bothered with
raising their children, this was a conven-
lent and comforting belief.
Although the waters surrounding the is
lands are infested with sharks, it is rarely
that native fisherman exhibits any fear
of them, and the fishermen think nothing
Of running the most desperate chances in
attacking. While the native would not
consider for moment the capture of his
own especial god, he has no compunctions
about taking some other mans.
Five Species.
The natives divide the sharks frequentlng
Hawaiian waters into five species, as fol-
lows: The Mano-kanaka (man shark) Is
the shark god Of the ancient Hawaiians,
the Mano, a large white shark, and the
Niuhi, the largest and f1ercest of all. The
last two are rarely seen in Hawaiian wa
ters. The Niuhi 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 larger species are
taken equally with hook and line, as no
net would be strong enough to hold them.
Shark hooks are generally made of a piece
OF hardwood carved to the proper shape,
with piece of sharp-pointed bone lashed
to the end to form the tip. Few of the
hooks have a barb.
A Battle Under Water.
But frequently the fishermen take sharks
with spears. Diving to a favorable spot in
about five six fathoms of water, the
fisherman places himself in haIf-crouch-
ing posture against a large coral rock and
waits for the shark to 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,
fearlessly engaging at close quarters.
Should the shark appear while he is de-
scending or ascending a 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 native. is ap-
parently much at home below the sur
face as above it his wonderful skill some
Frequently the native seeks the shark
in coves and caves below the surface
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 around the tail and the shark is
then hauled UP and dispatched The slight
est false movement Of the diver would
startle it and he would probably regret
having attacked. Yet experts have been
known to capture SIX or eight sharks in a
day in this manner.
Catching the Niuhi.
In the olden times the catching of the
Niuhi was made a royal sport but there
has been no regular Nuhi fishery for
nearly one hundred years. A large guam
tity Of the Iivers of the common shark
would be obtained, and these. with a lit
tie Of the flesh. would be wrapped up in
the leaves of the Il plant and baked -un-'
derground. At times pig meat would also.
be used. From fifty to hundred of the
largest single and double canoes would be
loaded with the baked meat and large guam
titles of the pounded roots of the ava,
mixed with little water and put in goards
The fleet would sail many miles out TO
sea in the direction from which the Mum