

A T otes on the Hawaiian Rat. 19 



When repacking the first rats caught on Popoia to mail to 

 Philadelphia, a number of lice and mites were found in the original 

 alcohol. Mr. O. H. Swezey examined them, and as our literature 

 on the subject is very scanty, he has only tentatively determined 

 the louse as Polyplax \_Haematopinus\ spinulosa : adults, young 

 and eggs. Mr. J. C. Bridwell has recognized the mite as belong- 

 ing to the Gamasida, and closely resembling but not identical with 

 the poultry tick, Dermanyssus gallince. 



Mr. T. G. Thrum, a lifetime student of Hawaiian legendary 

 lore, has found in his readings many references to the native rat. 

 In particular, an interesting account of the pastime of rat hunting 

 is given in the legend of Pikoiakaalala,' the infant prodigy with 

 the bow and arrow. The legend, full of the marvelous, is appro- 

 priately referred to at this time on account of the mention of three 

 kiuds of places where the rat-killing contests occurred. One was 

 a wilderness or deserted cultivation field on Kauai. The second, 

 on the coastal plains of Oahu, covered with a lowland herbaceous 

 form of the aweoweo {Chenopodium sandwicheum) , among the stems 

 and leaves of which the rats took shelter. The third was the 

 king's grass dwelling house near the shore, where the rats were 

 shot on the floor and the interior of the roof. 



From the legend is also ascertained the mode of procedure in 

 the contests. The first competitor shot continuously at such rats 

 as were pointed out by his opponent to the number agreed upon. 

 Then the latter took his turn and shot as ordered by the first. 

 The total score, of course, determined the winner. From the same 

 legend, it would appear that the chiefs had in their retinue, men 

 or women employed as rat killers, and indulged in betting on the 

 contestants' skill. 



There is another account, that a place was cleared of brush 

 and weeds, and the rats then driven into the clearing as marks for 



X S. M. Kaui, He Kaao no Pikoiakaalala. Nupepa Kuokoa, Honolulu, 

 Dek. 16, 1865-Mar. 18, 1866. This is not the best version, as Kaui missed the 

 point of the legend, i. e., the opportunity of bringing in a play on words, 

 where the youngster displayed his smartness. It was selected for this refer- 

 ence, however, because the places where the shooting was said to have oc- 

 curred must have appeared so natural to a Hawaiian recounting the legend 

 fifty years ago as to mislead him in his understanding of the intent of the 

 tale. A better version, from among the Abraham Fornander MSS., will be 

 published in the Museum Memoirs in the near future. 



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