THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 315 



length, to the end of which a piece of fish-bone 

 is suspended by the middle. This bone is ground 

 exceedingly sharp at each end, so that when it is 

 seized by the fish, the points enter the mouth in 

 contrary directions, and secure it. The floats an- 

 swer other purposes besides the obvious one of 

 regulating the depth of the snare, attracting the 

 fish by the whiteness of their surface, and showing 

 by their motion when the prey was taken. 



Not only in the smooth waters of the lagoon 

 channels is the hook and line used, but in the open 

 Ocean ; as, notwithstanding the frail character of 

 their vessels, the barbarous natives of these oceanic 

 isles are skilful and fearless in navigation. Even 

 the terrific shark is attacked in his own element; 

 sometimes involved in a net, when frequently he 

 makes havoc among the fishermen before, he can 

 be transfixed by their spears ; and sometimes caught, 

 as intimated above, with the insidious hook. The 

 most daring young men, usually the chiefs, are the 

 first to assault the monster ; while the elders watch 

 the proceedings in their canoes from a distance, par- 

 takers of the excitement, though no longer sharers 

 of the heroism. The eagerness with which these 

 expeditions are set on foot, and the ardour with 

 which: they are prosecuted, are only equalled by the 

 excited feelings of those who, in other countries, 

 pursue the more noble objects of the chase. 



The fishes of these seas are, many of them, in- 

 teresting ; some of them have been already named. 

 The Albacore and the Bonito are common in the 

 tropical parts of the Pacific, and are both members 



