The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-27
WITH TORCH AND SPEAR.

WITH TORCH AND SPEAR.
Now that summer has come again
with its warm, calm evenings, an ex-
the shore and the reef is sure to afford
plenty of amusement and no little
sport.
The equipment should consist of a
large tin torch, such as may be OBJ
tanned from any tinsmith. a piece of
Strengthened barrel-hoop, a spear with
several tines and long handle, and
a gunny-sack slung from the shoulder.
There are several different kinds of
torches but the one with the single
chimney projecting from a cone will
be found to be the most servicable. If
a large torch is used the oil will last
several hours. If you contemplate
longer excursion than This it is well
to carry a bottle of oil with you. Be
sure that the bottle is securely corked,
for a few drops of oil in a bag of fish
will spoil them for the table.
If you wish more elaborate weapon
than a piece of barrel-hoop you can
make kind of sword by affixing a
wooden handle to a heavy steel blade
with blunt edge. Through a hole in
the handle run a piece of cord, which,
if fastened round the wrist will prevent
you dropping your improvised machete.
This sword or iron is to be used for
killing cells or any fish which you may
run across. The spear, will prove to be
handy when operating in holes where
the water is deeper and where large
fish frequently lie.
sweater will be found useful and
comfortable, for the night wind blows
shrewdly across the water. Also it is
imperative that your feet be eneased
in a pair of old shoes.
There is good torchlight or lamaIama
fishing off Waikiki but the novice will
find plenty of publ and other fish to
practise on anywhere along the Kalia
flats
Start out soon after low tide and
meet the rising water. The cells and
fish will be moving then and they
may be pursued Nuntil the water be-
comes too high to be successfully pene-
trated by the rays of the kukui or
torch.
A hundred yards or so from the
shore are sure to be found ulae,
small sand-colored fish with dark body
bands. These may be stunned without
difficulty with the sword. Here and
there you will run across a small white
or uha eel, the best eating of all the
eel family, and closely allied to the
true conger. He will be slipping
along rapidly and the iron must
descend without hesitation or the eel
viii have vanished beyond the range
of the light. Small muIlet will also be
met with, also aalaihi and papiopio or
baby ulua. The light seems to have
a curious fascination for the latter
and they will follow it sometimes for
quite distance.
By working more to seward bigger
game will be encountered. Eels from
two to four feet long will glide past you
or, when surprised in a hole remain
evidently hoping that they
may be passed over unobservedg In
these holes a spear will kill an eel
which could not be touched with the
sword. On the shadows, however, the
latter weapon will be found to answer
the purpose better than the spear.
AS you walk along you will imagine |
from time to time that something has |
taken motion just ahead of you and !
got out of the range of the light. You |
will have thought rightly. The flats |
are so thoroughly hunted that their |
1enizens have become very wary and |
seem to have learned that death or |
lire disaster is foretold by the strange /
lights which flicker OBVIOUSLY over the |
water Of the lagoon. i
The fierce morays, kumaione, 1au-
milo, kauila, wela and puka, hunt in
he lagoon after dark and a splashing
n the shallow water tells the kama
lima along the reef that one of the
species, is pursuing
is prey close at hand.
A big moray will give the torcn-
lighter all he wants of excitement for
a quarter of an hour after being