Fish-Poisoning in the Hawatan Islands 225 
All the fish, except the eels, were taken home for food by the 
natives. The men said that they did not treat such fish differently 
in any way from those caught by other means, and that they were 
personally in no degree affected by the hola, neither during the 
pounding nor after eating the fish. Most, if not all, of the kinds 
of fish taken are customarily eaten raw without preparation. Some 
of the Oahu natives say that hola gives a bitter taste to fish en- 
trails, which on this account are removed before the meal. In dis- 
cussing the effect of fish poisons the natives have always appeared 
to think that what would kill fish would also kill human beings if 
taken internally, and yet they did not hesitate to eat the poisoned 
fish. It is true that there is a case on record of a woman having 
been killed by an infusion of auhuhu, akia, and leaves of ipu awa- 
awa administered in awa which she drank. The native account is 
that she drank the awa and detecting an unusual bitterness de- 
clared that she had been poisoned. The story goes that she died 
shortly afterwards. As the Polynesians, however, were subject to 
self-hypnosis, it is possible that the woman died of fright. Awa 
itself is bitter, and one Hawaiian herbalist gave the information 
that auhuhu and akia were administered as human poison in awa, 
as the awa disguised the odor of the other ingredients. 
The writer tested the effect of auhuhu on himself by chewing 
twigs, leaves, and seeds, but no uncomfortable effects were ob- 
served except a slight parching of the throat for the rest of the 
day. 
In regard to the effect of auhuhu on animals, inquiries of ranch- 
men on Hawaii brought out the opinion that it is harmless to horses 
and cattle, although one ranchman said that some of his stock had 
been poisoned by eating the weed. The goat drivers when ques- 
tioned said that neither goats nor cattle were affected by the poison 
in the plant. It would seem therefore that auhuhu, at least, has 
little or no harmful effect on the systems of warm-blooded animals, 
but the question is still a mooted one. 
*Wilkes, U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. 4, pp. 30, 31, Philadelphia, 
1844. 
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