242 SANTA CRUZ. 
on one’s arm; huge mouths red with areca nut and lime are thrust in 
one’s face; the scent of strong-smelling herbs worn in the shell armlets 
almost overpowers one; clothes are marked with stains of yellow ocher; 
an unmistakable odor of natives pervades everything, and keen eyes 
follow every movement; great heads bleached with lime or wrapped up 
in bark cloth are thrust into the windows; everything movable has to 
be put out of reach, and portholes have to be shut. Captain Bongard 
told the story of a Cruzian who endeavored to purloin one of the iron 
ringbolts fastened to the deck, returning time and again to have a pull 
at it. Cats are much prized by these peoples, and the ship’s cat has 
to be guarded carefully when they are on board. 
As soon as the ship begins to move ahead and the decks are cleared 
the confusion becomes appalling. Men hang over the ship’s side 
waiting for their canoes and expostulating furiously with the ship’s 
company; others have to be forced to leave, offering their wares all 
the time. ‘The ship’s people throw tobacco into the water alongside 
the canoes and instantly men dive over (the white soles of their feet 
showing up plainly), seize the tobacco, and come up shaking the water 
out of their mops of hair and wiping the salt off their faces; then, leap- 
ing aboard and grasping their paddles, they start off after the rest of 
the flotilla. Tobacco wet with salt water would not tempt a white 
man, but the Nupani men are reported to have smoked tobacco mixed 
with dried shark fins! It requires skill to extricate the legs from the 
narrow openings in the canoe, and occasionally as the man goes to leap 
overboard his leg is caught and broken bones are the result. 
Those who are the last to leave the ship calmly drop into the water 
over the side, holding their wares extended in the left hand. So quietly 
do they slip into the water that the left hand is seldom submerged; 
then, swimming with the right, they make their way to their friends. 
The catching of sharks by the Cruzians deserves a word of notice. 
Each canoe carries a number of half coconut shells strung on a length 
of rattan cane. On arriving at a place frequented by sharks this hoop 
of cane is jerked up and down in the water and a kind of gurgling 
noise is produced by the shells which certainly attracts the sharks. 
The noise is popularly supposed to imitate the sound made by a shoal 
of bonito leaping out of the water, and sharks are always found where 
there are bonito. As soon as a shark is seen, a bait (usually consisting 
of a fish) is thrown out; this is tied to a string and is pulled in towards 
the canoe. The shark becoming bold follows the bait until (after a 
few throws) he gets right alongside the canoe. A man is sitting ready 
holding a noose in his hand and, as the shark passes him, the end of 
the noose is slipped over the shark’s nose. The noose gradually 
tightens as the shark turns and then the battle begins. Eventually 
the shark is pulled alongside the canoe and is dispatched with blows on 
the head froma heavy club. The shark lines are twisted out of fiber 
