THE ANLMAL LIFE OF THE GROUP. 339 



FiSHixG IN Former Times. 



Doubtless fish have always beeu one of the chief articles of animal food for 

 the natives, and a visit to the busy markets will not only repay one for the 

 trouble, but convince him that the business of fishing still constitutes one of 

 Hawaii's important industries. The name i'a was given by the Hawaiians to 

 all food products secured from the sea, "whether they moved or not." But 

 for our purpose we will speak only of the fishes, reserving the many other 

 interesting forms for discussion in other chapters. 



As has been said in the account of the people, fishing in former times was 

 associated with much religious ceremony and idol worship. Altars and heiaus, 

 especially devoted to the needs of the tishing class, were very common. The 

 fish gods, more numerous than the heiaus, were faithfully worshipped by the 

 fishing class and their every tabu and requirement most studiously observed. 

 Before the fishermen would go out on their expeditions, everything that could 

 be done to placate the gods would be carried out by the devout. 



However, we are told that in those days, as in these, there was a certain 

 class, more skeptical than the rest, who went fishing whenever they chose to do 

 so, without obsei'ving any religious ceremonies whatever. 



Fishing Equipment of the Ancient Haw.\ii.\ns. 



There was a great variety of implements and apparatus employed by the 

 fishermen, and their description and enumeration seems hardly necessary 

 here ; but it is of interest to know that they had devices for capturing every 

 kind of creature inhabiting the waters aliout the islands, with the single e.xception 

 of the whale. 



The canoe w-as, of course, the most important part of the ecjuipment of a 

 fisherman. These Avere almost invariably made of koa. JMauy of the older 

 ones were fashioned from huge trees, so large, indeed, that the finished canoes 

 were often from thirty to sixty feet in length. A canoe to seat three fisher- 

 men would be about thirty-three feet long, while a single-seated one was 

 usually eighteen feet long by seventeen inches wide. Some of the canoes used 

 sails, but as a general rule the paddle was the only motive power. 



The seines were the most important part of the fisherman's outfit. 

 These were frequently two nr threi' hundred feet in Iciiutli, and in certain 

 cases they occasionally joined the long ones together. Their seines for catch- 

 ing bait were much smaller, usually only a few yards in length, with mesh as 

 fine as quarter inch. Gill nets of different sizes and designs were also much 

 used. They were used mostly at night and were commonly set across open- 

 ings in the reef. Frequently these nets were laid out so as to enclose a large 

 coral rock. The native fisherman would then dive down and drive the fish from 

 the rock. 



Another method sometimes used liy the natives was to join several seines 

 together and then paddle out to sea in a semicircle, paying out the seine as 

 they went. The net would then be hauled in to shore and the last few yards 



