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POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
long, but remarkably strong; others were very large. 
The wooden hooks were never barbed, but simply pointed, 
usually curved inwards at the point, but sometimes stand¬ 
ing out very wide, occasionally armed at the point with 
a piece of bone. The best were hooks ingeniously made 
with the small roots of the aito tree, casuarina, or iron 
wood. In selecting a root for this purpose, they chose 
one partially exposed, and growing by the side of a bank, 
preferring such as were free from knots and other excres- 
scences. The root was twisted into the shape they 
wished the future hook to assume, and allowed to grow 
till it had reached a size large enough to allow of the 
outside or soft parts being removed, and a sufficiency 
remaining to make the hook. Some hooks thus prepared 
are not much thicker than a quill, and perhaps three or 
four inches in length. Those used in taking sharks are 
formidable looking weapons ; I have seen some a foot or 
fifteen inches long, exclusive of the curvatures, and not 
less than an inch in diameter. They are such frightful 
things, that no fish, less voracious than a shark, would 
ever approach them. In some, the marks of the shark’s 
teeth are numerous and deep, and indicate the effect with 
which they have been used. I do not think the Tahi¬ 
tians take as many sharks as the Sandwich Islanders do: 
they, however, seldom spare them when they come in 
their way; and though sharks are not eaten now, the 
natives formerly feasted on them with great zest. 
The shell, or shell and bone hooks, were curious and 
useful, and always answered the purpose of hook and 
bait; the small ones are made almost circular, and bent 
so as to resemble a worm, but the most common kind is 
the aviti, used in catching dolphin, albicore, and boni- 
tos; the shank of the hook is made with a piece of mo- 
