THE MAN-EATING SHARK OF THE PACIFIC.
Trtoecui it did not take so long to reach tho spot where the man-eater was known to be, yet night had fallen, and it was by the light of torches made of the baked kernels of the candle, nut strung upon cocoa leaf fibre that we drew near the fleet. As we did so the dip of paddles were noiseless, and it was by signs alone that the "luna," or head fisherman, gave directions to the rest. By tha smoky, red light of the torches, we could see men busily scattering about the baked meat they had brought, and also half chewed morsels of awa root. As they did so there was the gleam of the fins and tails of hundreds of fish darting to and fro for the food. Now and then a larger one than the rest, with sides glowing with phosphorescent light, would dart among the smaller fry. scattering thein right and left. " They are the ' manoKanaka,' " whispered the doctor (we had both crawled on to the platform of our canoe), " the shark god of the old Hawaiians. It is the kind they believed could assume the forms of human beings at will. And there, there 1" he added qnickly, as a massive bulk rose slowly from the depths below, " there is the ' mano-keokeo,' the great white shark !" Just then the old fisherman stationed near us suddenly crouched down, and touching the docter with one lean, brown hand, pointed to the water near the stern of tho canoe next to us. We there
saw, gleaming in tbe opalescent depths, two bright spots that shone with a malignant, greenish light. They were sot in a monstrous, shadowy head, beyond which wo could dimly see a huge brown body. Below the cold, cruel eyes were traced the outlines of a formidable raouth, that, even as wo looked, opened slowly, disclosing row upon row of strongly hooked, pearly white teeth, with deeply serrated edges. As this frightful mouth opened the monster rolled half over, and viciously snapped at a bundle of food sinking near him. It was the niuhi, the fiercest and most voracious of his tribe, and and as he moved along the crown of fish darted away in terror. Even the great white shark sullenly gave way to this tiger of the sea, who swam slowly about, swallowing the food the fishermen kept throwing to him. As he thus moved from place to place his whole body seemed to exhale a peculiar light, that streamed from the tips of his fins and long unevenly-lobed tail. By the gleam of this peculiar phosphorescence his motion could be closely watched, and finally the experienced fisherman saw that he was becoming gorged. So intent had we been watching his movements that we had not noticed that while he was being fed the fleet of canoes had been silently moved in nearer the shore. Now looking down, we could dimly see the white sandy bottom, and in a few minutes were in quite shallow water, opposite an opening in the reef where the surf did not break. Our progress had been very slow, and now for a while the canoes halted, while hovering beneath them was the man-eater, evidently somewhat stupefied by the awa he had swallowed with the food so freely given him. The old Kahuna had, during the whole performance, kept up his pantomimic display, though in a guarded, quiet manner, while the fisherman kept clo«e watch upon the shark. He gorged to repletion, evidently intended to take a nap, and so settled slowly down to the white sandy bottom. He was the perfect (sub-marine) picture of overfed helplessness, and it seemed as though we could almost hear him snore. And then commenced a curious exhibition of skill and daring. A noose had been made in the end of a long, strong rope, and this was taken by an experienced old fisherman, who quietly slid overboard from his canoe, and allowed himself to sink to where the man-eater was resting, his body enveloped in that strange, weird light. Thnt was the moment when, if the shark had been shamming sleep, he would with one vigourous sweep of bis tail and a snap of his jawß have earned his name of " man-eater." But no ; he was for the time being powerless, aud, with infinite dexterity and skill, the native succeeded in passing the noose over the brute's head and about his middle. He then quickly rose to the surface and clambered into his canoe, and the fleet was again set in motion. The canoe to which the line about the shark's body was attached moved very slowly and carefully, just enough strain being kept on the line to raise the captive s body clear of the bottom. Sometimes the shark would be a little restive, and then we all waited " until," as the doctor said, '' he rolled over and went to sleep again." At length we were close into the beach, and all but two canoes were drawn up 011 the sands to wait for daylight. The two remaining ones lay over the sleeping muhi, the end of the line to which he was secured being taken on the beoch, and then all hands took turns in watching aud sleeping. The job might have been completed that night, but this the Kahuna forbade. "We have the right to snare the man-9ater in the night, while he is drunk," he said, " but we must wait for daylight, when he is sober, before we kill him." By daylight a crowd of peoplo had assembled on the beach, and the signal was given from the canoes that the muhi was awake and getting restive. So the long line was seized by a hundred hands; it straightened out, and then, amidst the triumphant song of the Kahuna (who took immense credit; to himself for the capture) and the yells and laughter of the crowd tramping away with tbe rope, the enraged maneater, thrashing and plunging about, was drawn out of the water and over the yellow sands. As the huge body plunged hither and thither he snapped savagely at everything but in vain. A crowd of the fishermen were always about him, raising a shower of blows on his ugly head, until he lay, beaten to death, on the shore. Great were the rejoicings over the success of this hunt for the muhi. Every portion of the body {which was over 18 feet in length) was eaten, for it—the bones and skin especially — are supposed to endow the eater with high courage and great strength. As for the one who slipped the noose over the head of the man,eater, be was given an extra portion of the liver, was extravagantly praised for his skill, and would, the Kahuna said, be fortunate in everything he undertook thereafter.—F. L. Clarke, San Francisco Chronicle.
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Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2489, 23 June 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)
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1,152THE MAN-EATING SHARK OF THE PACIFIC. Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2489, 23 June 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)
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