Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/97

 INDUSTEIAIi PEODTJCE, ETC. Yl the men try to insert a finger and thumb in the sockets of the eyes, so as to insure a firmer hold. Finding resistance vain, the creature moves upwards, and his enemies rise too, glad enough to leave the unnatural element which has been the scene of conflict. On their appearance above water, the men on the canoe help to drag the prize on board, where it is turned on its back, its flat buckler preventing its regaining its natural position. Loud blasts on the conch-shell announce the triumph of the fishermen. The heathen fishers of Mbua take with them a consecrated club, which, when a turtle is caught, is dipped by a priest into the sea, and so held by him that the water may drip oflf into the animal's mouth : during this ceremony he offers prayers, beseeching the god to be mind- ful of his votaries, and give them a successful season. Turtle-fishing is not without danger, and lives are sometimes lost in it by deep openings in the reef, or the savage attacks of the shark. Sometimes the sail of the canoe is made to cast its shadow behind the swimming turtle, which is thus frightened and pursued until exhausted, when it is easily captured. The people on land sometimes take the female when she comes ashore to deposit her eggs. But man is not the turtle's only enemy. Sharks, as well as Aldermen, have a pen- chant for green fat, and selecting the finest specimen, surround the harmless creature and tear it in pieces. 1 have often seen turtles which have been mangled in these attacks. I once weighed a pound and a half of turtle-shell, which was found in a shark's stomach, in fragments, so large as to enable me to decide to what part of the buckler they belonged, and to justify the conclusion that the whole "head" must have weighed between three and four pounds. The entire weight of the turtle could not have been less than two hundred-weight. The head, fins, and most of the body were found in an undigested state in this one shark, which paid for its gluttony dearly ; for it was found dead. An old fisherman of my acquaintance, whose word I have no reason to doubt, assured me that only four moons previously he took a turtle whole and weighing about one hundred-weight, from the stomach of a shark, in which receptacle he also found a common parrot. Yet sharks, in these waters, are rarely more than twelve feet in length, and very seldom as large. The fishermen of Fiji might supply the naturalist with many inter- esting facts, did not their superstition urge them to avoid, as quickly as possible, the presence of anything extraordinary, believing it to be supernatural, and fearing lest they should be guilty of unpardonable temerity in remaining in its presence.