TE PITO TE HENUA, OR EASTER ISLAND. 533 



people. Since the time of this discovery the encounters of the island- 

 ers are characterized as more sanguinary. 



TRADITION REGARDING FISH HOOKS. 



In the time of Atua Ure Rangi, the seventeenth king, the image- 

 makers were exempt from all other kinds of work, and the fishermen 

 were taxed for their chief support. The fish-hooks in use were made of 

 stone, so hard that many months of chipping and grinding were re- 

 quired to fashion one fit for service, and the most perfect hooks, even 

 in the hands of expert fishermen, permitted the escape of a large pro- 

 portion of the fish. A youth named Urevaiaus, who was descended 

 from a long line of fishermen, living at Hanga Pico, became prominent 

 as one of the most skillful fishermen on the island. His outfit con- 

 tained hooks bequeathed to him by his forefathers, but he became 

 discouraged by the want of success which he thought his labors de- 

 manded, and much time was devoted to a consideration of the subject. 

 One day, after a number of large and choice fish had escaped from his 

 hooks, he determined to spend the entire night in the worship of the 

 god Mea Kahi. About midnight, while he was still at his devotions, 

 the spirit of an ancient fisherman named Tirakoka appeared, and made 

 known the fact that his want of success was due to the inefficiency of 

 the hooks. The spirit directed him to go to the cave in which his 

 father's remains had been interred, and secure a piece of the thigh- 

 bone, out of which a proper hook might be constructed. Urevaiaus 

 became so much frightened by his interview with the spirit, that he 

 failed to remember fully all the instructions that had been given, but he 

 went to the cave the next day and secured the thigh-bone of his pater- 

 nal parent. For many days he went out in his canoe regularly, but in- 

 stead of fishing, his entire attention was devoted to the manufacture of 

 an improved hook. During this period his boat returned empty every 

 evening, and his want of success excited the open ridicule of his com- 

 panions and the concern of his friends, but he persevered until he had 

 fashioned a bone-hook with barbed point. 



When ready to test his new invention, a place was selected at a dis- 

 tance from his companions, and his boat was quickly filled with the finest 

 fish. The extraordinary success of the young fisherman, in time excited 

 the envy and jealousy of his companions, and his persistent refusal of 

 all inducements to part with the secret led to a serious quarrel and 



hitter enmity. A sudden attack was finally planned upon I 'revaiaus 

 while at work upon the fishing grounds; in the effort to preserve his 

 secret the youth lost his life, but the new form of books was found in 

 his boat and the invention became known to the fraternity. 



GENEALOGY OF THE KIN(iS OF EASTER ISLAND. 



Hotu-Matua, driven from his kingdom to the eastward by the rebell- 

 ion of his subjects, landed with a chosen band of followers at Master 



