THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 315 
length, to the end of which a piece of fish-bone 
is suspended by the middle. This bone is ground 
exceedingly sharp at each end, so that when it is 
seized by the fish, the points enter the mouth in 
contrary directions, and secure it. The floats an- 
swer other purposes besides the obvious one of 
regulating the depth of the snare, attracting the 
fish by the whiteness of their surface, and showing 
by their motion when the prey was taken. 
Not only in the smooth waters of the lagoon 
channels is the hook and line used, but in the open 
Ocean; as, notwithstanding the frail character of 
their vessels, the barbarous natives of these oceanic 
isles are skilful and fearless in navigation. Even 
the terrific shark is attacked in his own element; 
sometimes involved in a net, when frequently he 
makes havoc among the fishermen before he can 
be transfixed by their spears; and sometimes caught, 
as intimated above, with the insidious hook. The 
most daring young men, usually the chiefs, are the 
first to assault the monster; while the elders watch 
the proceedings in their canoes from a distance, par- 
takers of the excitement, though no longer sharers 
of the heroism. The eagerness with which these 
expeditions are set on foot, and the ardour with 
which they are prosecuted, are only equalled by the 
excited feelings of those who, in other countries, 
pursue the more noble objects of the chase. 
The fishes of these seas are, many of them, in- 
teresting; some of them have been already named. 
The Albacore and the Bonito are common in the 
tropical parts of the Pacific, and are both members 
