POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
179 
the mouth of a man^ formerly a priest of an akua mao, 
shark god; but it is too absurd to be recorded. The 
principal motives, however, by which the people appear 
to have been influenced in their homage to these crea¬ 
tures, was the same that operated on their minds in refe¬ 
rence to other acts of idolatry; it was the principle 
of fear, and a desire to avoid destruction, in the event 
of being exposed to their anger at sea. 
The superstitious fears of the people have now 
entirely ceased. I was once in a boat, on a voyage 
to Borabora, when a ravenous shark approaching 
tlie boat, seized the blade of one of the oars, and being 
detached from that, darted at the keel of the boat, 
which he attempted to bite. While he was thus em¬ 
ployed, the native whose oar he had seized, leaning 
over the side of the boat, grasped him by the tail, suc¬ 
ceeded in lifting him out of the water, and, with the 
help of his companions, dragged him alive into the 
boat, where he began to flounder and strike his tail 
with great rage and violence. We were climbing up 
on the seats out of his way, but the natives, giving 
him two or three blows on the nose with a small 
wooden mallet, quieted him, and then cut off his head. 
We landed the same evening, when I believe they baked 
and ate him. 
- The single canoes, though safer at sea, were yet liable 
to accident, notwithstanding the outrigger, which re¬ 
quired to be fixed with care, to prevent them from 
upsetting. To the natives this is a matter of slight 
inconvenience, but to a foreigner it is not always plea¬ 
sant or safe. Mrs. Osmond, Mrs. Barf, Mrs. Ellis, and 
myself, with our two children, and one or two natives, 
Avere once crossing the small harbour at Fare, in Hua- 
