. 12.2 
PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
The fish hooks, made of the mother-of-pearl, are intended 
chiefly for catching bonettas, and are used in trolling, without bait,; 
they consist of two pieces, one of which is nearly as long as the 
finger. The mother-of-pearl which possesses, naturally, a high 
and beautiful polish attracts the fish by its glittering appearance, 
and serves the double purpose of a bait and as a shank for the hook 
to the lower end of which a piece of bone is secured on the con¬ 
cave side, bending upwards, and inwards towards the shank, and 
is sharpened at the point, but without any barb; this serves the 
purpose of a point to the hook, and where this bone is attached to 
the mother-of-pearl a few hog’s bristles are secured across to give 
it in towing the appearance of a fish; to the hole, where the bone 
is secured to the mother-of-pearl, the line is made fast, and pas¬ 
ses to the upper part of the piece of shell where it is secured, 
forming a chord to the arch which it presents. When the fish 
seizes this bait and becomes hooked by the point of bone, this cord, 
by the strain on the line, so secures him to the hook that he rarely 
disengages himself; the contrivance is ingenious, and is such as 
has been adopted by all the South Sea Islanders. 
The harpoon is nearly straight, when made either of bone or 
wood; the ends slope off to points in different directions; on one 
side is a notch cut in to secure it to a pole by means of a slight 
lashing; the opposite side has a jog for the end of the pole to rest 
against; in the middle of the harpoon is a hole for the harpoon 
line to be rove through: when the fish is struck the staff' disen¬ 
gages itself and the harpoon becomes a toggle which perfectly 
secures the fish: they give the preference, however, to our iron 
harpoons, which are, in fact, with them, the most valuable form 
which iron can be put into, as they are much used in striking the 
sun and devil fish which frequent the coasts and bays of this island, 
and although this fish is very sluggish and requires little dexterity 
to take it, there are some who are trained to the business and 
pride themselves greatly on their skill. The sons and grandsons 
of chiefs are those who are most expert in the use of the har¬ 
poon. In the bow of each canoe is an elevated place for the har¬ 
pooned* to stand, and when he strikes the fish, he springs with 
his whole might with the harpoon and drives it up to the socket: 
this appears to be an awkward and very improper method of using 
