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Fishing Methods and Devices of the Maori

Methods of Taking Eels

Methods of Taking Eels.

The commonest methods of catching eels practised by the Maori were represented by the eel-pot and the bob. He did not use a hook in taking this fish, and I have never gained any evidence from page 121him that the gorge was ever employed. Other methods employed were spearing, netting, striking, and taking by hand. The eel-fisher had to be adaptive. Eels that would not take bait were taken by other means, principally in trap pots set at weirs. In deep rivers and lagoons weirs were impracticable, hence eel-pots were set in the open waters.

Eel-bobbing was, it may be said, universally followed in Maoriland, and the term toi is employed to denote the practice—he toi i te tuna. This word toi is given in Williams's Maori Dictionary as meaning "to fish for eels, kokopu, &c., with a bob." Apparently its primary meaning is "to entice, to lure"; and patoi carries the same meaning. The made-up bob is generally termed mounu or tui. The latter word describes the threading of the worms on a string in order to form the bob. Tui toke and tautau noke denote a bob made with earthworms (toke, noke), and tui huhu one made with the grub called huhu. They are also termed tori and herehere tuna. Having obtained the worms, the would-be bobber would take some fibres of flax or cabbage-tree leaf (Phormium or Cordyline), or a shred of the inner bark of Hoheria (ribbonwood), and a fine piece of manuka or a rush-culm, to which the twine-like fibres were attached, and then proceed to make his bob. By means of using the slight twig or rush as a bodkin he would pass the threads through a number of worms lengthwise, and so produce a worm-enveloped string. A number of these were made, and the ends of the fibres tied together. These ends of the strings are left long enough to be utilized in tying the various doubled-up strings of worms to the rod. Manuka is a favoured material for the rod, being a strong, tough, and pliant wood. Many preferred to leave at its outer or upper end the bases of diverging branchlets to form a knob to prevent the line slipping off. These rods are termed matire, matira, katira, kotire, patō, ngatire, manana, and possibly a few more names.* The eel is a strong fish, and has a very powerful grip. When an eel finds his teeth entangled in the fibres of a bob he becomes excited and tugs and twists about in a very vigorous manner. As soon as an eel has a good grip on the bob it is advisable to swing him ashore, ere he breaks away. Eel-bobbing is conducted at night, but is occasionally practised in the daytime, as during a flood, when the waters are much discoloured, though some kinds of eels are not taken at such a time.

The above account of the bob was obtained in the Bay of Plenty district. Another description given by Ngati-Porou of Waiapu, page 122simply corroborates it, but adds that the threaded worms are pushed together at the middle part of the string when the latter is doubled and tied. A short length of cord connected the bob with the rod.

The Otaki natives tell us that the very best bait for eels is one of spiders. A number of these were collected and enclosed in a small bag, about 6 in. long, made of flax. The eels eagerly assail the bag and their teeth become fast in the fibres of the flax. Small pear-shaped bait-containing bags like the above were sometimes used for putting in eel-pots.

Waiapu natives apply the name of kaitau to the strands of flax-fibre on which worms are threaded in making a bob. They prefer to thread all the worms on one string and then so double up that string that it forms many pendent loops. This bob is attached to one end of a cord about 10 in. in length, the other end of which cord is secured to the matire, or short rod. The actual bob and the short cord are included in the name tautau noke. The bob was employed for taking kokopu as well as eels, and these informants, told me that occasionally two small fish would be taken at once, each being suspended from a different loop of the bob. Manuka is preferred for a matire, and a two-pronged one is, or was, used for kokopu; to each of the prongs a bob would be attached. When fishing for papauma, a small fresh-water fish, yet more prongs and their attached bobs were used. I am told that when the nose of an eel-fisher itches the fact is accepted as a sign that he will be successful, but cannot say as to whether this holds good when he fishes for kokopu. A great many puhore (unlucky acts, signs, &c.) were believed in by fishers, but we do not hear so much about lucky signs or omens.

Eel-fishers at lagoons or on the muddy banks of streams, &c., sometimes erected a small elevated platform, termed a puhara and puwhara, from which to conduct fishing operations. When an eel-bobber arrives at his fishing-place he kindles a small fire and procures some fern (bracken) fronds to serve as a seat. In some cases an eel-fisher would deposit his catch in a pit, called a parua, dug in the bank at a convenient spot. Others would kill the eels with a wooden club (patu tuna and ripi tuna) and cast them up the bank. Mr. W. H. Skinner describes another method of killing eels, by means of sprinkling fine, dry earth or sand over them. The eels soon died under this treatment, and the bruising caused by knocking the fish on the head with a wooden club was avoided. This method was adopted when the eels were to be preserved. (See Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. 21, p. 107.)

Another method was to put the eels into a hoop-net called, a whakarino, as they were caught. (See fig. 33.) A bag-net made of page 123dressed Phormium fibre was attached to a wooden hoop, and a straight wooden handle was secured by one end across the hoop. This handle would be secured to the bank, stage or stakes in such a way that the lower half of the bag-net was under water. Each eel, as it was caught, was placed inside the bag-net, which, being of a small mesh, it could not escape from. Being still under water, however, we will suppose that the eels still felt at home to some extent until other things happened. The net being largely under water, there was no undue strain on it or the handle, which latter might simply be stuck in the bank in a horizontal position. This method of bestowing a catch was employed when throwing ashore was impracticable. A Waiapu note is to the effect that this fish basket or net was also used for other species, not eels alone; that it was secured to the puwhara, and was distended and kept open by means of two sticks, in place of the hoop described above. Also that a hoop-net used as a fish-basket, and made of strips of undressed Phormium leaf plaited, was known as a waikawa. The Tuhoe folk used the whakarino fish basket or bag, Fig. 33—A whakarino hoop-net used as a temporary corf. Sketch by B. Osborne page 124 but called it rohe, and they do not seem to have provided it with a handle, but attached it to rods or anything handy in order to steady it.

The species of earthworms used at Waiapu as bait for eels and kokopu were—

1.Noke waiu (light-colour).
2.Noke wharu (light colour).
3.Noke rakau (dark colour).
4.Noke whiti (dark colour; large).

The wharu is said to be an excellent bait to use in eel-pots. A dark-coloured earthworm of the Wellington district the writer found useless for eel-fishing.

Members of the Ngati-Porou Tribe also told me of a form of net called a korapa that was used by eel-fishers formerly. It seems to have been similar to that used by the Tuhoe folk for taking kokopu, and termed by them a kape. It was a form of hoop-net mounted on a straight handle, and used as is a scoop-net. It was employed for taking eels (probably for kokopu also) at night. When a fish entered the net the shaft was raised and the outer end, with attached net, elevated, so that the fish slid from the receiving net into a second bag-net secured lower down the shaft. This secondary net was known as the ngake. Eels were also taken by hand during the day, sometimes with the aid of a spear. Persons so engaged searched for them under banks, under stones, &c.; sometimes they were felt for with the feet in muddy places. This form of fishing is called rapu tuna (eel-seeking). Eels are proverbially slippery gentry to deal with, and are very difficult to hold, but natives have a knack of holding them by means of compression between the fingers, not the ordinary thumb versus fingers grip. When seeking eels at night by torchlight, a pursuit known as rama tuna, either the spear or hand-net was used. Eels are found lying on the bottom in calm reaches and pools, and can be approached closely if the eeler is careful not to agitate the water.

Sir J. E. Alexander, in his Incidents of the Maori War, tells us that in the Waikato district eels were taken "by grubbing for them with their hands in the sedgy banks, then killed with a bite behind the head, spitted, roasted without cleaning, and devoured. Sometimes half a dozen Maoris would sit in a semicircle facing the bank and up to their middles in water, while another would tramp the eels out of their holes; they were then dexterously caught as they passed between the legs and bodies of the watchful group." This trampling or feeling process is termed takahi tuna. As to the killing of eels by means of biting their heads, this was certainly done by the Maori in the case of the smaller kinds. An enthusiastic native eeler was seen page 125wading waist-deep in the mud of a recently drained pond; as he secured an eel he placed its head in his mouth, gave it a vigorous crunch with his powerful jaws, and then threw it out on the bank, where his wife collected the catch in a sack.

Patu tuna, or "eel-striking" by means of a thin striking implement, could be practised only in shallow waters, as occasionally found in lagoons. This usage obtained at the Chatham Isles in the shoal waters of the Whanga Lagoon. The striker used, as described by Potts, was made with a round hand-grip, broad blade with thick back and bevelled to a thin edge, and was about 3 ft. long. These were used at night when seeking eels by torchlight. A companion of the striker strung the smitten eels and dragged the string of eels after him or her through the water as they advanced. The two sabre-like implements marked "Eel-killers" seen in the Auckland Museum may have been used in this manner, or they may simply have been used by bobbers for despatching eels already caught.

The taking of eels by hand and spear has been almost abandoned, apparently, of late years, at least in some districts, in favour of what is termed "jagging," which is effected by impaling the eel on a hook lashed on to the end of a short rod used as a handle. In this method the implement has to be jerked suddenly toward the operator in order to impale the eel on the hook; with the eel-spear the operator thrust it from him. One sees this method practised in daytime, as well as by torchlight. Two persons frequently work together at jagging or spearing, one taking the eels and the other carrying the torch and the captured eels, which are strung together.

The torches used in these nocturnal takings of eels and kokopu (the so-called trout of our settlers) were of several different materials. The following note from the Rev. Mr. Yate's An Account of New Zealand shows that the inflammable gum of the kauri pine was used in torch-making in the far North: "A large torch, made of flax tied together, with a little resin from the kauri tree placed in the centre, is set fire to, and carried before the man whose office it is to spear the fish. The light of the torch attracts the eels from their hiding-places and they become an easy prey. The darkest nights are chosen for this purpose." The flax-leaves mentioned would be long, dried leaves of Phormium tenax. Natives often use the dry leaves of Cordy-line for the same purpose. Such bundles of leaves used as torches are tied together in a very loose manner. Dried lengths of supplejack (Rhipogonum scandens) are sometimes used for torch-making, and the bark of the manuka (Leptospermum) is another material so employed. Another material consists of long and narrow split pieces of heart of rimu (the so-called red-pine) tied so as to form a bundle. page 126Some will thrust into one end of the bundle a short rod to serve as a handle, as we insert the handle in a "birch broom" made of manuka brush. The rimu wood that contains resinous matter is preferred for the above purpose. But the most favoured material for torches seems to be mapara, or kapara, the hard heart-wood of the kahikatea tree, a Podocarpus. This wood used to be sought in the forests, and found at places where such trees had decayed in past years. Though the sap-wood of the tree decays in a short space of time, yet mapara is extremely durable.

Eel-spears (matarau) were made by lashing a number of sharp-pointed tines to a shaft some 3 ft. or 4 ft. in length. Occasionally these tines were fashioned from whale's bone, but as a rule hardwood was utilized. Another material so employed was katote, the very hard, black parts of the trunk of the tree-fern; but they were often fashioned from ordinary hardwoods, the mapara alluded to above being a much-favoured kind. The shaft (tata) may be of almost any timber, but the tines (mata) must be a hard material, for obvious reasons. The attached points were braced by means of lashing across them one or two wooden cross-pieces, termed kaua-erua. These implements can scarcely be termed true grains, inasmuch as the points or tines were not barbed. (See fig. 34, p. 127.) In late times short lengths of wire and other pieces of iron have been used as tines. A single-pointed eel-spear was known as a taotahi. The following extracts from Out in the Open, by T. Potts, corroborates some of my notes:—

"Spears of hard wood, such as manuka, were made very long and thin, or a stout shaft was fitted with a kind of grain made from the steel ramrods of old Tower muskets, or junks of stout fencing-wire; these rods were firmly secured together so as to form a seven-tined weapon, each tine barbed on one side only. This description of implement is used in river and estuaries. As the fishers tread the mud, the spear is constantly thrust down, a peculiar though slight vibratory motion is communicated to the shaft of the spear, which tells at once that the prey is struck. This method of spearing requires care and attention; the inexperienced may not heed the intimation so faintly expressed, and thus allow the fish to escape, more or less sorely hurt, when the weapon is raised for another thrust…. As soon as a fish is taken, a needle made from a bird's wing bone attached to a strip of flax is passed through the gills into the mouth, and the eel is strung and added to the bunch already secured…. On some of the larger inland lakes eels are speared from the boat…. This sport is there pursued in bright sunny weather, when the surface of the lake is calm. The spear is a long manuka shaft, fitted with a page 127 Fig. 34—Eel-spears (matarau). stout wire hook barbed at the point; when an eel is marked, the hook is gently moved under the fish, when with a sudden upward jerk the prey is hooked. In some parts of the North Island the natives have a fashion of sniggling in favourite pools with such a hook attached to a line; by the aid of a stick this is carefully placed below an eel, when a sudden pull forces the hook into the fish."

The following item, taken from the account of Sir George Grey's overland tour from Auckland to Taranaki, published in 1851, shows how iron was being employed at that time in the manufacture of native fishing implements:—

"They have a bayonet fastened on the end of a pole about 8 ft. long, which they thrust into the banks as the canoe drops quietly down the stream, in places where they know by experience that there are eel-holes in the mud. When the man with the spear has transfixed an eel, he calls out "Ka tu" ("Struck"), and, while he holds on by the spear, another man jumps out of the canoe with a large hook in his hand, about the size of a shark-hook, with which he pulls the eel out of the mud after feeling for it with his hands, in which operation the natives often get severely bitten by the large fish. During the time that the canoe is going down the stream, and the spearer is thrusting his weapon into the banks, one of the natives, generally the man who steers the canoe, repeats the following charm for the success of the fishing:—

Hei kai mau te tangata
Makutu mai, mahara mai
Kei reira to hara
Harahara aitua, harahara a tai
page 128 I pakia ai koe, i rahua ai koe
Niniko koi tara, kia u o niho
Niniko koi tara koe
Kei te tai timu, kei te tai pari kei Rangiriri
Hau kumea, hau toia
Nau ka anga atu, anga atu
Nau ka anga mai, anga mai."

This effusion calls confusion upon the person who, by means of magic arts, is preventing fish being caught, and also implores the fish to allow themselves to be caught. It was apparently intended for fishing with line and bait, not for spearing.

We have one more eel-taking practice to scan ere dealing with the most important means of circumventing Tangaroa ara rau—the weir and eel-pot—and that is the koumu, a method that was also employed in taking the upokororo, or grayling, and inanga. H. T. Tikao, of Rapaki, makes some remarks on this practice, as given in Appendix I, and as it was practised at the Waihora Lagoon. The method consisted of excavating a number of channels about 4 ft. to 6 ft. wide through the gravel bank that divided the lagoon from the sea. These ditches were not, however, carried completely through the spit; they were excavated to such a depth as enabled the water to flow readily down them for some distance. (See fig. 35.) Where the gravel deposited was of a more open nature, containing less sand and silt, the flowing waters would escape through the gravel, and here excavation ceased. Thus when eels felt the "draw" of the flowing water and sought to reach the sea by passing down the newly formed channel they found themselves caught as in a trap, for the eel-hunters took good care that they did not return. When Tuna of the many ways passed into a koumu he might abandon hope. This mode of taking eels is alluded to by Tikao as whakaheke, a term employed in the North Island to denote the trapping of eels in nets set at weirs. It was practised at Waihora from February to May (about), and on the dark nights of the moon. A quaint belief among local natives was that the eels liked to reach the sea in order to miti (lick up) the foam produced by wave-action. Great numbers of eels are said to have been taken by this method when eels were running freely. The eels were actually taken in a funnel-shaped hoop-net called a kohau, and many persons would join in the task. When a number were taken in a kohau it would be borne away and the catch emptied into a parua, or pit dug for that purpose. After May the netting of flounders commenced at Waihora. The eel-taking-in the koumu, says Tikao, was continued until the morning stars swung upward.

page 129
Fig. 35—Kohau net set in koumu for eels, as practised at Waihora Lagoon, South Island.

Sketch by B. Osborne

Mr. Potts speaks of eel-weirs formed by the natives at Lake Waihora, at which weirs they set eel-pots so as to catch both incoming and out-going fish.

Mr. W. J. Phillipps contributes a note anent this method of taking eels at Lake Forsyth. Local natives informed him that it was a practice to deposit white or light-coloured objects, such as bleached bones, on the bed of the awa, or channel, to enable watchers to discern eels as they entered the channel. To these white objects the term whakaata, an expressive word, was applied. When a number of eels had entered the channel, then a funnel-shaped hoop-net (kohau) was placed therein, the open mouth of the trap facing inward; the eels were driven back by assistants and, in their endeavour to regain the lagoon, passed into the net. In the other method described the mouth of the net faced the lagoon.

Some accounts of taking fish in this manner explain that when a number had entered the koumu the end was blocked. In vol. 50 of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute Mr. Downes describes the koumu as worked at Okorewa, on the sandspit that separates page 130Onoke Lake from the ocean. The description of how the eels are taken there, however, differs from accounts I have collected, for when a number of eels had passed into the channel and the hole excavated at the end thereof they were smothered by means of throwing quantities of sand into the water. This resembles the practice mentioned by Mr. Skinner and quoted above.

Near Minginui, on the Whirinaki tributary of the Rangitaiki River, I was shown an old ditch that was dug in olden times to connect the Tuna-kapakapa Creek with the Whirinaki River. At certain times, when eels were on the move, the creek-waters were diverted into the ditch for a while, and then allowed to run down the old channel, to leave divers eels flapping and squirming (kapakapa) in a waterless ditch.

Many charms were employed by fishermen, and the eel-fisher was much given to utilizing the potent aid of such effusions. The following is said to have been employed for both eels and kokopu; it was collected in the Waiapu district:—

Kai mai ra, kai mai ra
Ki te uru ti, ki te uru ta
Taku wahine konekeneke whanau tama te ika
E Kopu .. e! Kopu nui, kopu roa, kopu tahunahuna
E tu matawhai noke rite kano [?]
Kei whea ano koe kia u ki taku matire
E mui ana, e rango ana, e auau ana
Katahi na tuna, tuna, pāra, pāra, kopu, kopu whakaheia
Tena ano ra te warewarenga o to waha te mau na
Tukia i to puku nui, tukia i to puku roa
Mau ka ahu atu, mau ka ahu mai
Ahu mai kia u.

The following was repeated by those who engage in bobbing for eels; it was collected in the Matatua district:—

To poa, to poa
To poa tahuri ke, to poa karapa ke
Tikina mai kumekumea
Tikina mai takatakahia
Tikina mai haparangitia
Tangaroa kia u, Tangaroa kia ngoto mai
Oi whiwhia, oi rawea to poa, tahuri mai.

The earnest appeals to fish to come and be caught contained in these charms are touching. In the following specimen from the same district the lower world, Raro, seems to be appealed to, possibly because fish abide in "the waters under the earth":—

page 131

E Raro! E Raro!
Te Po, te Po tahuri ke, te Po tahuri mai
Tau mounu tikina mai kumekumea
Tikina mai takatakahitia
Tikina mai haparangitia; kia u, kia ngoto.

In his little work on Maori proverbs Sir G. Grey inserts the following: "Tena te puna kei Hawaiki, te pu kei Hawaiki, te puna kei Rangiriri" It is said that the repetition of the formula will cause eels to enter an eel-pot. This effusion may be rendered as "The source is at Hawaiki, the origin at Hawaiki, the source at Rangiriri." It contains a reference to the mythical place of origin of fish, as heretofore explained. It may have been clear to the Tuna folk why they should enter an eel-pot and seek destruction on account of the utterance of these words, but man of the Steel Age marvelleth at their simplicity.

The taumaha ritual recited over the first eels caught during a season was, among the Tuhoe folk, the same as that repeated over the first birds caught, but the name of Tangaroa was inserted therein. It runs as follows:—

Taumaha kai te motumotu, kai te ngarahau, kai te kapekape
I aua kia mate, i aua kia irohia
Ka ma Tupakākā, ka ma Rakaihika
Ka ma te kapiti, te kapiti ki tamaoa
Tena taumaha, taumaha ka eke
Ka ma nga pukenga, ka ma nga wananga
Ka ma hoki ahua, tenei tauira.

In account of the taking of eels by Ngai-Tangihia at the Pou-kawa Lake we are told that as each man secured an eel he made it fast to a cord that was attached to his leg. Thus as he proceeded through the shallower waters he towed his catch after him, as was done by South Island natives at Waihora Lagoon.

* It is interesting to note that at far-away Nukuoro, in the Caroline Group, matira is the name of the bamboo, used far and wide as fishing-rods. The natives of Nukuoro are Polynesians who speak a Maori-like tongue.