SOUID-HOOK SINKERS. 



19 



Squid-hook Sinkers. — Among the produAs of the sea few were more gener- 

 ally acceptable to the Hawaiiaus than the squid or hcc. Both fresh and dried it was a 

 favorite concomitant of poi the national 

 dish. To capture it on the reefs where 

 it abounds, a peculiar hook was used 

 which will be more fully described in 

 the chapter on the Fisheries, but here 

 it miist be shown (Fig. 14) to explain 

 tlie use of the stone sinker. The spindle 

 to which the bone hook is attached has 

 at the opposite end the stone sinker 

 bound face to face with a cowrie, usu- 

 ally Cypirca /ii^n'iia, which is a favorite 

 bait for squid. W^hen lowered to the 

 bottom the stone falls beneath and is 

 hidden by the shell : the hook is partly 

 concealed by the blades of grass bound 

 to the spindle near it. When the squid 

 grasps the coveted shell, the fisher pulls 

 the line and if all goes as planned, the 

 hook enters the soft bod}' of the raollusk 

 which is then drawn in through the ink 

 which it emits. In Tahiti, instead of 

 a whole shell, fragments are bound like 

 shingles over the sinker which is less 

 carefully cut than by the old Hawaiians. 

 Plates XXXVL-XXXIX. show a large 

 series of these sinkers which are of vari- 

 ous material, even foreign stone from 

 ship ballast. No relic of the old stone 

 time is more abundant than these squid- 

 hook sinkers, and the abundance is due 

 to the fact that they were easily made, 

 and like poi pounders their use continues 

 to the present day. I have seen the old 

 stones used as sinkers to a net as well. 



FIG. 13. HAWAIIAN DOOR STONE. 



Stone Knives. — While the native bambu furnished convenient knives very 

 generall}- in use whether to trim kapa or circumcise a lad, stone was also in use for 



heavier work such as carving a dog or pig. No specimens are known that show any 



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