Fish-Poisoning in the Hawaiian Islands 221 
two miles to the south, arrangements were made for a temporary 
revival of the destructive ancient practice. 
Four men were despatched to gather auhuhu, and after an 
absence of three hours they returned with four bundles containing 
in all 128 plants. The plants were in flower and fruit and were 
complete, having been pulled up by the roots; they ranged in 
Reioht trom 194 to 2% feet. (See Plates XVII A and XIX B.) 
At low tide, the men went to the shore, taking with them the 
auhuhu, two dip nets, a small seine, two sticks, and a sack. The 
sticks were not for driving out the fish from crannies—the poison 
did that; they were a means of defense against eels, which were 
greatly feared. The men had prepared themselves for sea fishing, 
but knowing the difficulty of photographing objects in the waves, 
the native foreman directed them to a pool called Kekuai’o, in 
which, it was said, many large fish had been taken. This pool was 
irregularly oval in shape, with a surface measurement of 22 by 26 
feet. The depth varied from 1 to 3 feet. At low tide the waves 
lapped in at one corner, but at high tide they swept strongly 
through the pool. There were three small rocks standing up in 
the pool and many crevices in its sides. When first examined, it 
seemed without fish, except for ohua?, which are to be seen in all 
the tidal pools. The only interference by the writer in what fol- 
lowed (except for the necessary pauses for photographing) was to 
remind the men that grass had not been brought for the packages. 
The men set to work on a level portion of the lava flow, 20 feet 
distant from the pool. The bundles were thrown down, untied, 
and pounded as they lay (Plate XVII A). The pounders were 
rough stones, averaging 15 pounds in weight, selected without 
especial care. Each man proceeded with his work according to his 
own idea, one of the two older men beginning at the blossom end 
of the bundle and the other at the roots. After ten minutes, all 
the leaves, seed-pods, and twigs were broken off and the bark of 
the stems was loosened. The bark was then rapidly and cleanly 
peeled from the stems and roots. and the wood was discarded 
*Young of the manini (Hepatus sandvicensis), called ohua until about 
24% inches in length. The Hawaiians daily catch great quantities with dip 
nets for food. 
aul 
