142 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
light, buoyant hibiscus ; and the bottom was hung 
with stones, generally circular and smooth, about 
three inches in diameter. These were not per¬ 
forated, but enveloped in pieces of the matted fibre 
of the cocoa-nut husk, tied together at the ends, 
and attached to the lower border of the net. 
The first wetting of a new net was formerly 
attended with a number of prayers, offerings, &c. 
at the temple, and on the beach. I recollect, at 
Afareaitu, when they were going to take out, for 
the first time, a large salmon-net, and had put it 
upon the canoe, the whole party, including the 
fishermen and chiefs of the district, kneeled down 
upon a pebbly beach, and offered a prayer to the 
true God, that they might be successful. This 
was about day-break ; and as the sun rose above 
the waves, I saw them rowing cheerfully out to sea. 
Though these nets were called upea ava , salmon- 
nets, a variety of large fish was taken in them; a 
shark was not unfrequently enclosed, which some¬ 
times made great havock among the fishermen, 
before they could transfix him with their spears. 
This kind of fishing was followed not only as a 
means of procuring food, but as an amusement. 
The chiefs were exceedingly fond of it, and often 
strove to excel. Hautia was celebrated for his 
skill and strength in taking some kinds of fish. 
Their country was little adapted for hunting, and 
the only quadrupeds they ever pursued were the 
wild hogs in the mountains; but the smoothness 
and transparency of the sea within the reefs, was 
favourable to aquatic sports ; and a chief and his 
men, furnished with their spears, &c. often set 
out on their fishing excursions with an exhilaration 
of spirits equal to that with which a European 
nobleman pursues the adventures of the chase. 
