THE ANIMAL LIFE OF THE GROUP. 341 



of fine net brongiit together in a circular form. When advisable the tish thus 

 caught might be left in the seine trap in the water for several days. Certain 

 species of fish that run in school, as the akule. can be seen a considerable 

 distance at sea. It is the practice among native fishermen to post one of 

 their number on the land at an elevati(m from which their practiced eyes c;in 

 locate the school of fish as it approaches the shore. In directing the opera- 

 tions of the fishermen from the shore, the lookout uses a white flag and 

 observes considerable superstitious ceremony in his woi-k. 



Several forms of bag nets have been employed l)y the Ilawaiians, some 

 of them more than two hundred fathoms in length. The usually have de- 

 tachable bags in the middle often thirty feet long by half as many feet in 

 width. These were used in water twenty feet or more in depth. The 

 opelu or bag nets are commonly about a dozen feet across by three times 

 as deep, and have a hoop fastened in tlie mouth to keep the net open. In use 

 they are baited and lowered, and then at the proper moment rapidly hauled 

 in. Several ingenious nets are used in eai^turing various species of fish — the 

 npena hehu, upena pua, kapuni nehu, upena uhu and the upena poo being 

 important among them. 



Several forms of dip nets were also devised by the Ilawaiians. One was 

 formed by tying two slender parallel sticks to a fine net about five feet apart. 

 By running a string through the lower end and shirring it through the net, 

 a rude bag was formed that was used in shallow water and f<ir fishiui;- in 

 rough, stony places. 



The Hawaiians seem to have used but few fish baskets, the two kinds used 

 in catching the shrimp i being the most important forms. 



Several species of fish were taken in fish-traps or pens. Tlie group of 

 shark pens removed from Pearl Harbor when the channel was dredged were 

 among the best examples in the islands. They were so arranged that the fish, 

 which enter them freely at high water, are caught as the water recedes, by 

 means of a small seine. 



Fish spearing was an art Avitli the old Ilawaiians, and they were vei-y 

 adept in the use of the weapon, which consisted usually of a long hard- 

 wood pole six or eight feet in length, ending in ancient times with one or two 

 sharp wooden prongs, but in modern times, with a thin rod of iron, a foot or so 

 in length, that is slightly barbed at the tip. This implement was only used in 

 shallow water about the reef, where it might be emiiloyed in spearing squid, 

 turtles, and other slow-moving surface-swimming forms. In the hands of an 

 expert diver, however, it might be carried down into the water several feet and 

 used witli effect in caves and holes about the reef. 



Fish Poison. 



The natives were expert in making and using a certain fish poison known 

 as holahola. A poisonovis weed- which grows on tlu' mountainside was col- 



