THE ANIMAL LIFP] OF THE GROUP. 343 



fishei'inen of today. One man with a .small calabash of dried shrimp was left on 

 shore while the rest of the party took a seine with very fine mesh and paddled 

 their canoes out a few yards from the shore. The man with the bait then 

 walked along the beach a short distance, and after chewing up a few shrimp, 

 would select a promising place and throw the morsal as far out to sea as possible. 

 If small fish come up immediately the net was cast about the spot and a draw 

 made in which all hands participated. If the bait w'as unmolested new bait was 

 prepared and thrown out as before at what appeared to be a more favorable place. 

 By this little trick, the fi.sherman was saved not only the time employed in mak- 

 ing unprofitable hauls, but the chagrin of finding nothing, not even bait in his 

 net. when it was landed. 



Shark Fishing in Ancient Times. 



In the capture of shark the ancient Hawaiiaus, especially the chiefs and 

 alii, found much sport — and since the use of human flesh a.s bait was in great 

 vogue among them, the method then employed is of more than ordinary 

 interest to us ; of course, the flesh of other animals has been substituted in these 

 latter days. 



The human body used was u.sually that of a slave, or at least some one out 

 of standing with the royal fishermen. The person to serve as bait was killed 

 two or three days in advance of the anticipated fi.shing expedition. The flesh 

 of the victim v;;is then cut up. iilaced in a container and left exposed to the air 

 to decompose. 



With the bait loaded on the outrigger of the canoe in such a manner as 

 to admit of its leaving a dripping trail of blood and oil on the surface of the 

 water, the fishing party would row their canoes out to where sharks were 

 plentiful. Large bone or wooden hooks, some of them a foot long, w^ere 

 baited with the tempting morsels and lowered to the eager prey. Great skill 

 and courage was shown by the members of the royal party on such occasions 

 in roping and landing the captured shark. 



Every part of the bone and skin of one of these savage animals was sup- 

 posed to confer unflinching bravery on its possessor. For this reason Kame- 

 hameha I. was especially proud and jealous of his title as the great shark-fisher. 

 He kept his victims penned up near the great heiau ^ of Mookini, near Ka- 

 waihae, Hawaii, so there was always a supply of bait on hand. 



In the olden times tlie capture of a shark was really a great event, but it 

 has been more than one hundred years since the last human being was made to 

 figure in the preliminary plans of a day's aquatic sport. However, shark fi.sh- 

 ing is indulged in as a sport today, but the motor boat, the flesh of a horse for 

 bait, and the use of rifles has done much to dull the lieroie setting shark fish- 

 ing must have had in days that are gone. 



While the Hawaiians recognized lint five species of sharks and gave to 



