270 FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



Two perforations are the rule, but in the specimen with the com- 

 pound shank a third exists. Unlike the kahawai hook from New 

 Zealand, the barb is always simple in the Central Pacific type. 



Fig. 36. Fig. 37. Fig. 38. 



To the shank the barb is securely lashed by twine threaded 

 through the perforation, the distal of the two lashings also serves 

 to hold the beard ; in the specimen figured (fig. 38) this latter is 

 of European cotton thread, but usually it is of native fibre. The 

 hook is made more secure by wedging on either side of it under the 

 lashing, a piece of wood, which, in the examples at my disposal, 

 is invariably from the mid rib of a coconut frond pinnule. Finsch* 

 describes such wedges as of bone or fish-bone splinters. 



A hook which differs from the usual type is represented in the 

 Australian Museum from Mortlock Island. This pattern has 

 been noted from Strong's Island by Edge-Partington,f and has 

 been well figured from Mortlock by Finsch. J It differs markedly 

 by the shape of the barb, the angle at which it is set, and especially 

 by its mode of attachment to the shank and severance from the 

 fishing-line. The tail end of the shank is deeply cut by two pair 

 of notches to which the barb is fastened by a species of " cross- 

 seizing." The hinge of the Avicula is cut lengthwise to form the 

 shank of this hook, not as usual across. 



The taste of the fish or caprice of the artificer results in much 

 diversity of beard, " singa." In Funafuti, white feathers (which 

 appear to my colleague, Mr. A. J, North, to have been plucked 

 from the breast of the Black-naped Tern, Sterna melanauchen) 

 are in vogue. In one hook (fig. 34) a pair of these feathers orna- 

 ment the tail end of the shank, their shafts being twisted into 

 the furthest lashing upon the lower surface. Two pair are inserted 

 upon the other specimen figured, (fig. 38) in a corresponding situa- 

 tion, while a third pair garnish the fishing-line near the butt end of 

 the hook. Finsch quotes specimens from Nukuor, in the Carolines, 

 collected by Kubary, adorned with black feathers. From the 

 proceeding extract, it will be seen that Captain Cook observed 

 dog's and pig's hair used in Tahiti. An instance is before 



* Finsch Joe. cit., p. 331. 



t Edge-Partington loc. cit., i., pi. clxxvii., figs. 9 - 10. 



t Finsch loc. cit., pi. iii., fig. 1. 



Finsch loc. cit., p. 332. 



