THE "TANIFA" OF SAMOA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7143, 6 July 1901, Page 2

THE "TANIFA" OF SAMOA.

ilaiiy years ag»— in 1873— at th<e close of fen intensely hot day (writes Louis Becke in "Chamberfe's Journal"), I set out fiDin Apia, tie principal port of Samoa, to Walk to a -Village named Latilii, a few Bute* along the coast. I was bound on a pigeon-shoot-ing trip to the mountains, and intended sleeping .that "night at Laulii with some native friends who were to join trie farther Civ. l^aSeing through tile semi-Euiopean-isfcd t&wn of MatautUj I emerged out upon the apen beach. With, me was a Jetting Polynesia!* fralf^caste named Alan, dbtrtit twenty i*W years of age, and one of the jnost petfect specimens of athletic m.a)ihood in the Siiutih Pacific. For six; ntont&s we: had )i«n business partners itt a small cutter trading between Apia and SavaU-Mahe largest island of the Bamoan. group. 250% after tome months of toil* We Were taking a wttVs holiday tbgelfcer> and enjoying ourselves greatly^ although, at thfe timfe the country wits in the throes of an internecine wax. A Walk of a mile brought us. to the Mouth of the Vaivasa River* % small stream Sowing into the_ sea froni the littoral o> our right, the tidft was high; therfefore we hailed a picket . st&tioned in the. tfrfenehes on the opposite bank, and asked them in a 3 ocular manlier not to fire «t us while we were wading, across* To bur stirjjrise— for l we Were both well known to the eontendI ing patties and on very friendly . terms i with theni^haif^-dbaen. ineii sprang tip i and excitedly 1 BABE US NOT AtifciiPT T& bKO r S&. ' 1 Go, farther ug the bank ;and cross to out dlo (lines) in a canoe," addfed a young Maftofio chief* 'whose family 1 knew Well, "^hfcre is » tanifa about. We saw it last niffno. s. . ■ That #as ijuit* enough fof us— ibr Ihe naine tanifa sent a cold chili down' our backs. We turned to the "right, and after walking a duaiter of &. niiie catoe to a hut bn thfe bkai at a spot regarded as neutral grduodi fiere Wfe found sonife Wonlen. a.nd children, and a canoe ; and in less thah.fiye ' niinutes w6 >vefe landed qii thd ttthet side, tKe wotoen Chorusing the dreadful fate that wouM kave befe'Uefi. Sih had we attempted to crbl|S «ie toofttb 6f tile rive*. „ " E iifcia gafa, 16 uifti t B (" 'Tis five fathoms long 1") cried on& bldidame. . "And a fatnosa Wids "at the shoulders j" «iia aadtier lady, "with ashuddeh h&ta fcbme to the moiitU of the Vairafia because it hath smelt th* biboi of the three men wno wei* kiUed in the river here two daysjigo.^ , • "We'll hear the true yarri presehtlyj" isaid my companion as We wdlkfed down, the iefVhaiMi ba*k 6$ tks river. inUst )x a tanifa cruising abou't^ or else thqse Itlanorib fellows wouldn't ham been, so scared at us wanting to cross-. u -As soon as we reached the young chiefs' quarters we wei'© made very welcoine, and i were obliged to remain: ajad! share supper with hito andhis m*h—^li stalwart ybung natives froih the little island of Manono^ a lovely spot situated in the straits separating Upbiu from S&vaii. Plaeing our>guns and bags in the care of one of the warriors, we tt&ofc our seats on the matted floor and filled our pipes; and* whilst a bdwi of ' kava Was being. prepared^ lii'oj th? young chief, told us about tlie advent "of the : tdnifa. . . . . ' Let in> first cxpl&ih> before giving ike ciusi's statement, that the tanifa is a some'what rare. and greatly dreaded meiniber of the shark family. By many white residents It was believed occasionally to measure from twenty to twenty^five feet in leiigth^as a matter of fact it seldom exceeds ten feet ; i but its great gifth and solitary, .nocturnal habit haive iayested.it, even. to. the native mind, with Actions! powers of voracity and destruction. However, . although tie natives* accounts of the creature are *£&g---geratedj.it is wajiy a dreadful iMonßtetj and is t?he nibre dahgerotts to human life because of the persistency with which ib, frequents muddy and ehaUbw Water, at th6 aiotiths of streams, patticUlarlyj after a freest eausted by feeaVy jfdinj when Into the. .port'' of Apia there fall two small streams-bailed rlverß by the lbefll people^-the Mulivai and the Vaisigagd. I Was jforfcunate ehqugh to see specimens Of tlie temifa on. three becasidns, twice at the Vaisigagb and once at thevinouth Of the. Mukvaij but I had never sfeeft one ipaughti or feven eufficientiy expb&d to give an idfa of its proportiohs. ' Hb\t<Svetj inahy nativteß an old Tt«ratb"ngan Atoned Hapai, wh6 livfed in A£i& wbA the proud eaptiiret of Several tinifo^lave Me a rtliabie descriptibnj which t affefwams verified; A t«aifA ten feeb long^ Hapai.assured mB, was art ftn<#moii«iy buik> vbA powerful ereattlrej with jAWs ilnd teefch much larger than an ocean haunting Sa&fk of ddubi* that length ; and its widtk across the BhetilderS Was virj? great, -Altheiigb 16 g«ii)lrally mhm feioivljfs it W§uld, WhSn it had etoce isigiited its pejf, *»** &l° n 8 under th€ Wfctef With great rapidity, With^ but causing ft fitople. At ft visage in Bavaii, & i>6werfuliy-bulife womttn, who Was incautiously bathing a* thd moath ©f a Btreaihi was eUddeniy «Wegt away by one of t/hese BMfMs ttlmbßb bfef Ore sh« could utter a cry, «6 Swiftly and suddenly was ehe sebedi Several attfefflptS Wfe*e made to (JaftUfß the brute, which Continued to haunt the gc€iie 6f the tragedy fBP several days} "but it Was tod cunning to tak6 a hoek, and <m& &6V€r caught. OSie t&ittfa Whiqh Jbad been seen by the yo«nf Manbno eMef and his in*ft the j^66eding evening had made its appe.kriiMe iotH'Mtev darkness had falleflj and had cruised to and fro across the mouth of the Vaivaea tilliie tide began to fkll^ whett it mad© its way seaward through a pasßage in, the reef* It Was. bo li'o assured me, (lulte eight feet in length anid very wide across tiie head and) shoulders. The wato* was clear, and by the hright gtarllght they could dißCertt its movements very easily; once it oame Well into the five^ and remained stationary for some minutes, lying undw about two feet of water. Some- of the Maijono toeft, hailing ft. picket of the enemy on th6 opposite bank of the rivei-j asked for ft t*n anjinutts' truoe to try and shoot it. Miis was granted} and, standI ing on the top of the sandy trench, h&lf-a- --| doaeto young fellows [ SIBED A VOLUiIT At tfifl SHABIt from their Sniders. Kone of the ,bullcts took effect, and the tamifa sailed alowly [ off again, to cruise to and fro for another hour, watching for any hapless person who might cross the river. Just as the kava was being handed round, some children who were on watch cried out that the tanifo had come. Springing to his feet, Li'o again hailed the enemy's picket on the other side, and a truce was agreed to> so that " the white men could have a look at the malie" '(shark). Thirty or forty yards away was what seemed to be a huge, irregular, wavering mass of phosphorus, which as it drew nearer revealed the outlines of tie dreaded' fish. It came in straight for the mouth bf the creek, passed over the pebbly bar, and then swam leisurely about in the brackish water, moving from 'bank to bank less than a dozen feet from the tshorfc. Tih.6 stream of bright, phosphorescent light which had surrounded its body when it first appeared had now, owing to there being a minor degree of phosphorus in the brackish water, given place to a) dull, sickly-greenish: reflection, accentuated, -however, by thin, vivid streaks caused by the exudation from the nostrils and gills of a viscid matter common to some species of sharks, and giving it a truly terrifying appearance. Presently a couple of men, taking careful aim, fired at . the creature's head ; in an instant it darbed off with extraordinary velocity, rushing through the water like a submerged comet, if I may use the illustration. Both of the men who had fired were confident their bullets .had struck and; badly wounded the shark, but were greatly disgusted when, ten minutes afterwards, it again appeared.

swimming leisurely aibout at tihirty yards from ike beach. Threa days later, as we were feturfilnjg tb Apia, we were told by our native friend? that the shark still haunted tfce aidutb of the Vaivasa, and I determined to capture it. I sent Alan, on board the cutter fd* bur ono shark hook — a hook which HAD DONE MUCH EXECUTION AMONG THE SEA-PROWLERS. Although not of the largest size, being 1 only ten incites in the shank, it Was made of sptendid eteet, and we had irVquently caught fifteen-foot Sharks, with it at sea. It was a cherished possession with us, and we Always kept it and tuft four feefc df chain attached to it bright and cleanv iii the evening Alaii retiirnedv accompanied by the local pilftt (Captain fiaihiltpn) and the master of a Germa-4 barque. They wanted "to see the furiv", Wfe libon Had everything in readinesst The hs6k-— baited with the belly portion of a freshly* Killed pig,. Which this Mafibno peb^lfe had fcbtoffl^deered froS* a bust *Hiage=^r& buoyM td & piece of light pua wood to kfeep it from sinking • and thßU> wifch twenty fathbiite af brand-nSw whaife4irife attached, W* let it-dfift out imVo ths cehtrS of tfee ;jiasfeagfe. Making our end bf the line fait to ' tfti trunk" of a cocoa-Bub tree, we rtt sonle children \o watch, siiA xnid iiie trenches to <triiik soine kaivft, sffiokfej ahd gossip. We had not ibflg to wait~y(Jeiy half-a^hbur— when we hfeard a warning yell fronitlie The tahif* was in *ight! Jumping up } kM tumbling over each other itt our eag%rhess-, wb rushed out Alas! we were t&6 late $ for the ■dtiark/infctead of approatshing iii M lißttai leisurfely maiaetj *aM6 & fetrfeight «a|?t at the bait, and 'before we cidiild &ee bur fend of Vki line it was aS taiifc aS iatt irdft bar, aM ihe cfeiaturfei with tk hSpfe firmly fa«»n^^ In his jaw, wa^ ploughing *th6 water infe> foam amid yfells of .exciteifieiit f&snl the natives. Thp fettddtelily the liiie fell felapk, aiid the haiMozea ■ inen whd w««fe holding it wSnl SVeJr 6& their bWks. ; -In mournful silende we ihaiiled in thfeiine. ThenV. oh> woe ! the ihbdk^HSuJ prized^, beautiful hook^—was gone, end with it twb feet of thfe chain, which hacl parted at the centre swivel. iSAt PAfttlCtJtAß TANITA WAS SEE* KO MOBE. . __^ Nearly Mb mohths lftfeerj t#6 of a pich larger, size appeared at th« Jaoufch of tiih Vaivasa. Bevefai of the white irfesiMfe triiril flight after Siigßt %d i&ddk thgmj iiiit the mbhSt&>s refused, td Idbit at th*, baits, ihfeh appeared on "tfre scene an' did oneeyed Malay nanlM 'B^ Who afeSertM fie fcould'feiii tbkm taSily". " *he way le set to Wofk was describSßd fe> SdiS hf tite nftli¥%s who witnessed the bp^ratldnS; T^cihg a piec^ of green baffifeod iibbuk Ibilf fett ih lengthj h^ split .frdnl It tWo feaeh an inch wide. 'cfrarriiiig tM hfe fehaf^ened the eMS fcarfefiiUyl th%n, by great pressure^ he foiled tMin ttjp Md as Small cbmpasS aS 3^oMbi%, keeping the whole iii position bf Sfewing the cdil ti£ in the fresh skin of a fifek intiwn a§ tM isti-; iimu-— a. sp^cilS of the * featkeH&ckeiV Next he asked, to b% prdVideji with twb dogs. A couple of curs Welb . sodi provided, kiliedj and the viscera tfeinfcvefi. %e coils of Whbod W«re then placed itt the vkcahcyj and the efei df thg Belligs stitohed uti witih small wdoaen 'skWers.- flat cdni> pleted tiiS preparation of the 'baiti; As soon as the two sharks made their appearance one bl the clow was thrown into the water, and. was quickly swallowed. Then the second foilowedj and -it was Quickly seized by the second t*nif a. The sharks remained cruising aWut for some h<mrs, then weiit off as ihe tiSe began to fall; On thefolldwing evening ibkf i-Utl, j^ot turn- \ip> nor oil the next, afa€ this Malay insisted that withih four br five flkys bdth would be diead. 4§ seen. As thfe dttgs Wfete digested, he:. saidj th<e thin flshiskin#t»i|iid fbSdw), the toaimbob-cpii would fly -aJHIft 4 ahd the ishiar^hM-*nus peiiitrikte bftt only the sharks' bellies* &ut prbtsrude thfbuf d the. outer skiii as w*fl. Quite tq Week aftSrWardSj €\irid| whi& time neither of the tanifa had Deln Bfeth, the Bmalltt bf the two was f6uM deia^ on t&e beach at Vailfete JPlantati&fli about fdiif miles from tM Vaivaetk. It waS *S*ffllMd by numbers of people, and presented a cilribitfe but horribl* dpti one fend of the batiibott Sgrittg W«& ©vef q febfe from the felly, which Was so cut and iaeerated by the agdiiisfed eftdris »f the monster to free itself fjQin the in&trQmißnt df tortfirfe that much «f thfe fnt6Stifl«S was fbn^. Tlt& the larger o! t&tese direa&d Bsh had died ih the Same mafiter thtrs wj*s nd to Sbubt ; btfi probably it* had fetok in the itisep wattf butsM* the feiifrief-regfi