740 



BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



The native is a great lover of the hee, and has a number of methods of capturing 

 it, one of the most interesting of which is with the cowrie shell. One or more cowrie 

 shells of the ]\Iauritiana or Tiger varieties are attached to a string. -When only one 

 is used, an oblong pebble about the size of the shell is tied to the face of it, a hole 

 is pierced in one end of the back of the shell, a line is passed through, and after being 

 fastened here, allowed to hang a few inches below the shell, to which a hook, whose 

 point stands almost perpendicular to the shaft or shank, is attached. Only shells 

 with small red spots breaking through a reddish -brown ground have an attraction for 

 the hee, and it will not rise to any other kind. Shells which have suitable spots but 

 unsuitable background are given the desired hue by steaming them over a tire of 

 sugar-cane husks. 



On arriving at the fishing ground the fisherman in pursuit of hee either chews up 

 and spits upon the water a mouthful of candlenut meat, to render the surface glassj' 

 and clear, or he uses the water glass, which is described below. He drops the 

 shell into the water, and bj' means of the line swings it back and forth over a place 

 likely to be occupied Ijy a hee. The greedy animal perceives the shell, shoots out 

 an arm, and seizes it. If the bait is attractive, after a few moments' hesitation 



■^ I<^.f " 



Fig. 236. — Hook nitiilo from iron nail. 



Fig. 237. — Cowrie hook with shell for catching hee. 



another arm is placed around it, and then another, until at last the animal withdraws 

 itself entirely from its hole and hugs the shell closely to its body, oblivious of every- 

 thing else. The fisherman then draws it rapidly up through the water, and when it 

 raises its head at the surface, pulls it over against the edge of the canoe and delivers 

 a blow l>etween the eyes with a club which is generally fatal. Owing to the hee's 

 quickness with its eight tentacles or arms, the fisherman has to be very rapid in his 

 movements, as the animal would he no mean antagonist should it have an oppor- 

 tunity to seize him with its arms. The natives say that a number of persons have 

 lost their lives in struggles with the octopus. This method of fishing is called Ijv 

 the natives "Lawaia hee me ke leho" (squid-catching with cowrie). 



A cowrie shell, with a metal hook laid across the mouth of the shell and fixed in 

 position with melted lead, is sometimes used in fishing for hee; and, again, a line 

 with a piece of lead attached to the end in a horizontal position, a hook with the 

 point up being lashed to one of the ends of the lead, is employed. 



Water glasses are frequentlj^ used along the Hawaiian coast. An oblong, square 

 box, with a piece of glass fixed in the bottom, is put on the water, with the glass end 

 downward, and the fisherman, by placing his face in the open end, can distinctly see 

 the bottom, although the surface may be broken with ripples outside of the water 



