346 NATURAL IIIKTORY OF HAWAII. 



and offal left by the Initehers. The ghastly head with its gapiug mouth was first 

 to be dropped overboard. Thrusting: one hand for want of a better hold into the 

 open mouth of the dead animal, the laborer slipped his other hand under the 

 head as it had been cut free from the body, when, without warning, the yawn- 

 ing mouth clapped shut in a death grip on the hand and wrist of the Jaiianese. 

 The suffering man was only e.xtricated from the vice-like jaws In- main 

 strength. One of his comrades .seizing him, another the shark's head, his hand 

 was literally pulled, in a frightfully lacerated condition, from the dead animal's 

 inniith. In spite of the fact that the animal's flesh had been boiling an hour, 

 and was I'eady to be served to the waiting company of Japanese, the nuiscles of 

 the jaws had responded to some stimulus that caused them to clamp the man's 

 hand. 



Sometimes the natives Inuit for shaiks in pools and caves in tlie reef, 

 where they ai'e occasionally found fast asleep. When a "shark hole" is lo- 

 cated a diver will go down and deftly slip a noose about the tail of a shark, 

 which is then hauled up and dispatched. Experts have captured six or eight 

 fair-sized sharks in a day in this manner. 



The skin of sharks in the hands of the natives found its pi-incipal use in 

 the manufacture of lieads for tlieii' hula drums, while the teeth and hones were 

 used as ornaments and implements. The desh was generally eaten, l)ut out 

 of respect to the great shark god it was tabu to women, who were forbidden 

 to partake of it under pain of death. 



The Hammer-He.vd Sii.vrk. 



Among the various species of shai-ks the liammer-head,"' oi- mano kihikihi. 

 is perhaps most curious in its characteristics. It is a wide-ranging form 

 found from the Mediterranean to Cape Cod in the Atlantic, as well as at widely- 

 scattered localities in the Pacific, including Hawaii. The singular form of the 

 head is one of the most luiusual modifications among fishes. Instead of retain- 

 ing the usual form, the front i)art of the head of these sharks is broad, flat- 

 tened and I'xteiidi'd nn eai'li side in1(i a process, on the flat terminal surfaces of 

 which are situatetl the eyes. 



The Dogfish. 



The Hawaiian ilogtish," whicli is also found in Jaiian, is an active species 

 of the .smaller sharks that may be identified by the stout spine in the dorsal 

 fins and by their sharp, sipiarish cutting teeth. In the Atlantic, dogfish are 

 sometimes captured in large numbers, their livers b(>ing used for the production 

 of shark-oil. In Hawaii shark-oil fisliing has never l)een carried on to any 

 extent, though sharks are abundant in cei'tain luealities, and (uu'e dv twice 

 vessels have l)een fitted out to engage in the trade. 



The il.vcKEREL Sh.vrk and 'Killer' Whale. 



ilackerel-sharks seven to nine feet in length, which furnish the large 



tiplwriia ziji/iriio. « Sriiiiihix 



