All this time the other man is working away at his bonito call. Then suddenly the water is lashed into foam, and the man on the rock is straining every muscle. The fish is hooked, and three or four adroit tugs at the line bring him in to the foot of the rock, where he is pounced on by the two men, speared, and landed. Even then the game is not ended, for a bonito dies hard, and a struggle of no mean order is sometimes gone through before the natives have conquered.

To see two black figures struggling with a fish nearly as big as themselves is an extraordinary sight, and is perhaps the most exciting part of the sport. More than one native has been injured in the last act, but that only adds to their keenness to conquer, for they have unlimited courage, as every one who has lived amongst them knows—except, I may add, when superstition plays a part, then they are the most abject cowards. {116}

Kite-fishing, though less exciting, is another popular form of fishing and is conducted in the following manner. A large kite is sailed behind a canoe, and attached to the tail of the kite is a line with a bait which just touches the water. The gentle bobbing of the kite makes the bait jump on the surface, in the same way that an ordinary angler makes his fly play on the water. This is supposed to suggest the presence of a small fish, and the kite is there to represent a bird hovering over it. In this way large fish are attracted and caught.

Ordinary line and hook fishing is also used, and the hooks are beautifully made, sometimes of mother-of-pearl and sometimes of turtle shell.

On a moonlight night a party of natives will go out in their canoes to fish for the makasi, a large fish which feeds round the mouth of rivers and lagoons. This is a somewhat dangerous sport, owing to the captive fish occasionally being attacked by a shark just as it is being landed, which sometimes results in the canoe being upset, and its occupants, the fish, and the shark all getting mixed up. Such an excitement and noise is caused by the yelling fishermen that the shark is often frightened, and clears off without even tasting either the fish or the fishers.