414 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
TORCHING. 
Considerable fishing is done with torches at night. The torches are 
usually made of split bamboos secured at regular intervals with ki 
leaves or twigs of the naio (A/yoporum sandwicensis). They are some- 
times made of a number of kukui nuts strung on rushes, or the stems 
of cocoanut leaves, which are then wrapped around with ki leaves so as 
to make the torch round likea candle. These latter will burn in almost 
any kind of weather. The natives have a notion that if the torch 
burns with a pale flame the fishing will be poor, but if it burns with 
a bright red flame it will be very good. 
In shallow water the fish are frequently speared or taken in a small 
scoop net by the fisherman as he wades around with the lighted torch 
in one hand and the spear or net in the other. 
Sometimes, while the fish is blinded or dazzled by the light, a scoop 
net is slipped in front of it by one of the fishermen; a companion then 
gently tosses a stone just back of the fish, which causes it to dart for- 
ward into the net, and it is captured. This manner of fishing is called 
by the natives ‘* lamalama.” 
Another popular method is to put in the bow of a boat a can filled 
with inflammable fuel and covered with oil. At night the boat is rowed 
to a favorable spot, when the fuel is set on fire. When the amaama 
and others come up to look at the fire, and are fascinated or dazzled 
by the light, a stick is suddenly brought down on them, stunning or 
killing them. They are then picked up and put into the boat, which 
is rowed a little farther on and the operation repeated. 
SNARING. 
The use of the snare in fishing seems to be confined to Hawaii, the 
writer not hearing of its use on the other islands. Puhi and ula 
(crawfish) are the usual species taken in this manner. 
In snare fishing for puhi (ahele puhi) a long stick is employed, with 
a noose arranged at the end, the string working the noose reaching 
clear to the end of the pole. A bait made of almost any kind of 
pounded fish or crab is thrown into the water in favorable spots, espe- 
cially around rocks, where the puhi live in holes and crevices. The 
noose is slipped up close to one of these holes and when the puhi sticks 
its head through it in order to reach the bait the line in the hand is 
pulled, which draws the noose tight to the end of the pole, pinning 
the puhi’s head there and choking it to death, after which it is drawn 
to the surface. 
In fishing for ula (ahele ula), a long pole (to which dead bait has been 
tied, about 3 inches from the bottom) is put down in the water in front 
of a hole in the rocks. As the ula comes out of its hole to get the bait, 
another pole, with a crotch or fork at the end, to both ends of which a 
noose is fastened, is slipped under its tail and suddenly jerked, which 
tightens it, and the animal is brought to the surface. 
