I THE OCEAN AS A SOURCE OF FOOD SUPPLY 191 



not care to make very great hauls, any more, that is, 

 than could be!eaten by the village mouths before putre- 

 faction set in. Sometimes a whaler anchoring in one 

 of their bays brought them joy by catching and tow- 

 ing near the beach a hump-backed whale, which, when 

 denuded of its blubber and sent adrift, was eagerly 

 pounced upon by the natives, and towed ashore where 

 its bounteous store of flesh, resembling coarse beef, pro- 

 vided a royal feast for all the population. These 

 occasions were dates to reckon from, for the food was 

 to them delicious, and their own inventions of tackle 

 stopped far short of anything sufficiently strong for 

 catching the whales which swarmed at certain seasons 

 among their isles. 



I must here, before passing on to those wonderful 

 lands where our kinsmen dwell, pause awhile to note 

 two curious methods adopted by the natives of different 

 groups for catching the fish they desired methods 

 wide as the poles asunder, yet reflecting the native 

 mind and its adaptability to circumstances. In the 

 Vavau group of the Friendly Isles, I once came upon 

 an elderly native standing on the beach in the moon- 

 light, hurling something as far as he could out into 

 the sea and then hauling it back again. With that 

 gracious courtesy which I always found among these 

 amiable people, he allowed me to examine his gear. 

 It consisted of a fairly long hand-spun coir-line, 

 to which was attached a large pebble; around the 

 pebble was hung a number of hooks. When this 

 machine was flung into the sea, which was highly 

 phosphorescent, the cuttle-fish abounding there sprang 

 at it, and, becoming entangled in the hooks, were 

 hauled ashore to furnish later a goodly feast for the 



