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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 

 Vernacular names of fishes heard in Hawaii and Samoa — Continued. 



GLOSSARY OF PRINCIPAL WORDS COMPOSING NATIVE NAMES OF SAMOAN FISHES. 

 By W. E. Safkoki). 



The following vocabulary, based chiefly on notes taken in Samoa during the 

 months of February, March, April, and May, 3888, was obtained from native fi.sher- 

 men, all of whom .showed the greatest intere.st in telling me of the fishes of the reef, 

 the ocean, and the stream, distinguishing those which were best for food from those 

 which were unwholesome or poisonous, and warning me against those armed wnth 

 stinging spines and tho.se lurking in holes in the coral which inflict severe wounds 

 with their sharp teeth. One of the most interesting lists I secured from an old 

 native who was fishing for sharks from a canoe lying under our stern at Leone Bay. 

 This man would attract the attention of a shark l)y shaking in the water a number of 

 half shells of cocoanuts strung loosely on a stick, rim to rim. The shark would 

 approach to within a few fathoms of the canoe to find out the cause of the conmio- 

 tion; then the native would throw out a bait {maunu), consisting of a fish's head 

 attached to a string, and draw it gently toward the canoe, the shark following. 

 When the .shark was within reach, the fisherman would seize a heavy club he had in 

 readiness and strike the shark a violent blow on the head to stun it, then .slip a noose 

 (maea) over its head and, holding it alongside the canoe, dispatch it with a knife. 

 This was to me an example of the most primitive method of fishing. The rattle he 

 called tui-ipu (string of cups); the shark was one of the kind called malie.^ The 

 fisherman told me of a larger kind, called tHtvifa, which was known to attack men 

 while swimming, and as he found an interested listener he followed his account 

 with a list of the principal fishes of Samoa. The names I wrote down at once, later 

 correcting the orthography with the aid of Dr. George Pratt's excellent dictionary 



