ETHNOLOGY HEDLEY. 267 



Frigate-birds (p. 59). In Tonga the hook of the god Tangaloa 

 was an heirloom preserved for many generations. 



In this Archipelago their value was heightened by the rarity 

 and inaccessibility of the shell, (Avicula cumingii) from which 

 they are manufactured ; hardly any are found at Funafuti, 

 and the Group is principally supplied from a bed in the Lagoon 

 of Nukulailai, whence they are procured by expert divers. 



This type of hook is universal throughout the Pacific, being used 

 alike by Melanesians, Polynesians, and Micronesians. Besides 

 those collected by the Expedition, the Australian Museum con- 

 tains instances from Manihiki and Mortlock Islands, and the 

 Gilbert and Hawaiian Groups. Among Edge-Partington's sketches 

 may be recognised further instances from Danger Island, Strong's 

 Island, Tahiti, Tonga, and the Solomons.* In addition, Finsch 

 quotes this type from the Carolines, the Marshalls, and the Mar- 

 quesas, f In New Zealand, where the substance of which it is 

 usually manufactured does not exist, the Maories found in the 

 shell of the " pawa " ( Haliotis iris), a substitute for the flashing 

 nacre of the Avicula. But this shell being too brittle to stand 

 alone, is supported by a backing of " totara " wood (Podo- 

 carpus totara). It is used, according to Button, J for catching 

 the " kahawai " (Arripis solar). The barb is itself single or 

 double recalling the Tongan pattern. Specimens of this interest- 

 ing variation lie before me in the Museum collection, and 

 correspond fairly to the instances figured by Brough Smyth 

 and Edge-Partington.|| 



The habits of the Bonito (Thynnus pelamys), for whom these 

 hooks are intended, resemble those of its near relation the European 

 mackerel; they eagerly rush at and swallow any attractive object, 

 guided apparently by sight, not scent. 



Of the considerable literature which has accumulated on the 

 subject, probably the first notice of the use of these hooks is 

 Captain Cook's remark of them in the hands of Tahitian anglersU: 

 " Of fish-hooks they have two sorts, admirably adapted in their 

 construction as well to the purpose they are to answer, as to the 

 materials of which they are made. One of these, which they call 

 ' wittee wittee,' is used for towing. The shank is made of mother- 

 of-pearl, the most glossy that can be got : the inside, which is 



* Edge-Partington Joe. cit., i., pi. Ixii, fig. ; pi. Ixxxvii., fig. 8 j pi. 

 clxxvii., figs. 9, 10 ; pi. ccix., figs, 4, 5, 6 ; ii., pi. xxi., figs. 1-3. 



t Ann. K K. Naturhist, Hofmus., viii., 1893, p. 332. A Caroline speci- 

 men is figured in the Voyage Uranie et Physicienne, pi. Iviii., fig. 10. 



Guide to the Collections in the Canterbury Museum, 1895, p. 217. See 

 also Wakefield Adventures in New Zealand, i., 1845, p. 93. 



Aborigines of Victoria, i., 1878, p. 392. 



\\ Edge-Partington loc. cit., i., pi. cccxci., fig. 9. 



f First Voyage., ii., 1773, p. 218. 



