THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 293 



darted out to sea. The torch answered a double 

 purpose ; enabling the headsman to discern his prey, 

 and dazzle the eyes of the fishes ; and as they dashed 

 past the canoe, on the surface of the water, he thrust 

 forward his net, and turned it over upon them. 

 Many of the natives have acquired great skill in 

 this exercise, and the quickness of their sight and 

 the celerity of their movements are astonishing ; so 

 that sometimes vast quantities of fish are taken in 

 this manner.* 



A large number of fishes are taken with the hook, 

 as by more cultivated nations ; and with all the 

 superiority in art, and all the advantage of metals 

 possessed by Europeans, the native-made hooks are 

 preferred, as far more effective than ours. Many 

 of them are really beautiful productions, and, when 

 we consider their total want of metallic tools, excite 

 our astonishment at the skill and ingenuity of the 

 manufacturers. Our hooks are all made on one 

 pattern, however varying in size ; but the forms 

 of theirs are exceedingly various, and made of dif- 

 ferent substances, viz., wood, shell, and bone. " The 

 hooks made with wood are curious ; some are ex- 

 ceedingly small, not more than two or three inches 

 in length, but remarkably strong ; others are large. 

 The wooden hooks are never barbed, but simply 

 pointed, usually curved inwards at the point, but 

 sometimes standing out veiy wide, and occasionally 

 armed at the point with a piece of bone. The best 

 are hooks ingeniously made with the small roots of 

 the aito-tree, or iron-wood (Casuarina). In selecting 

 * Missionary Enterprises, p. 270. 



