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Among the few remaining evidences of early Hawaiian life are the walled
fish traps, pounds or weirs at the entrance to Pearl Harbor, Oahu.
They are particularly interesting as not occurring elsewhere in the group,
probably for the reason that conditions favorable to their operation are
only-to be found at this one place.
The
Hawaiians have had for many years a system of raising fish for food within
ponds and walled enclosures, called loko, adjacent to the sea, the
varieties being confined to such shore fishes an ama ama (Mugil cephalus
Linnaeus), and awa (Chanos chanos Forskal), and an occasional moi (Polydactylus
sexfilis Cur. & Val.), kaku (Sphyraona snodgrassi Jenkins), or oopuhue (Tetraodon
op.) which may have entered the pond when young. The system is still
in use in all the islands, more particularly on Molokai and Oahu, and has
already been referred to by Dr. J. N. Cobb.
The
Pearl Harbor fish traps, on the other hand, were used for the purpose of
taking the ocean fishes which had entered the harbor, the principal being
the akule, oio, weke, and pualu and the makiawa. Occasionally other
fishes were taken in small numbers such as kawakawa and aku, opelu,
sharks-in fact the trap known an Pakule is claimed by older Hawaiians to
have been entered by every fish except the whale and to have retained
every kind except the amaama, which latter could find its way out over the
walls.
Three traps now remain, the largest called "Pakule" (originally without
doubt Pa-akules, the akule pen, since the akule was the most important
fish taken therein on the west bank of the channel at Hammer Point.
In this trap were caught all the fishes just mentioned except the makiawa.
In modern times sharks have been captured within its confines, and it now
goes by the name of "The Shark Pen" among the white residents. The
other two traps are called "Pa makiawa" and are situated, one on the west
of the channel at the point called Puleou and now sometimes misnamed
Pookals, (which was formerly the name for Waipio Point), and the other on
the east of the channel between the place called Keanapuaa and Awaawaolohe
bay. In these the makiawa was taken Formerly there was another trap
on the east bank of the channel at Bishop Point, which has been in ruins
as far back an any modern native can remember; it has been removed and the
stones used to build a small pier near the points. From descriptions
it has been gathered that the shape, posit on and use were the same as the
pa-makiawa at Keanapuaa.
The
general shape of the three fish traps is alike. A heavy curved wall
following generally the direction of the shore was built in the deeper
water, and, turning back for about one-third of the distance, formed a
pocket and acted as one side of the entrance. From the turn another
wall ran out to deep water as a leaders. From the shore side of the
entrance a wall was constructed, first parallel with and then directly to
the shore, diminishing in size as the water shoaled. The rear end of
the outer wall and the beach were joined by another wall. The walls
varied in width from a single line of stones near the shore to from three
to six feet in the deepest part, and were built o blocks of coral reef
rook averaging in size eighteen by fifteen by six inches.
On
the walls of the Pakule running shoreward were many pieces of dark basalt
and of a curious black indurate mud resembling adobe. At several
places along the bank of the channel a stratum of the latter substance
crops out between two strata of reef rock, an at Keanapuaa this
sedimentary deposit is two feet deep. The basaltic pieces, however,
must have been brought from a distance of several miles. Tradition
has it that all the stones for the walls were brought from a hill in Ewa,
Oahu, called "Puu-o-pala-lii" which is of volcanic origin; the earliest
account must have related to these few lava rocks. The dark stones
were more numerous along the north wall than on the south, and those found
in position were about thirteen feet apart. The natives called them
"men" who drove back the fish attempting to pass over the wall. When
newly laid, the dark stones would have contrasted very strongly with the
light color of the coral rock, and undoubtedly fulfilled their purpose
then, but when seen, they were so thickly covered with mollusks and
barnacles as to be well nigh indistinguishable from the rest. It has
been claimed that the dark stones had been worked by hand to resemble
sharks heads, but an examination showed them to have been the result of
natural cleavages, and their shape undoubtedly influenced the builders in
their selection. The best-shaped specimen of each kind of stone is s
a piece of indurate mud, a layer of the marine growth on the above
mentioned, and a piece of basalt nineteen inches high.
At
the north end of the leader wall is another dark stone about four and
one-half feet long and one foot wide and thick. It use lying on the
bottom of the water when seen, but formerly stood erect. Its name
was "Kuula" the Hawaiian fish god. Kuula was a noted fisherman in early
days, who has since been deified and is still worshipped on all the coasts
of these islands in the shape of stones, sculptured and rough, and in
small walled enclosures. His wife Hina is sometimes with him, and in
the Pakule, she is to be found as a roughly pentagonal slab of coral rock
about two and one-half by two feet by eight inches in size, and her
position is on the south end of the outer wall standing erect and facing
the open sea.
Running out into deeper water from Kuula and in the same direction as the
leader, there formerly stood a row of twelve ohia tree stems about six
fathoms high and three feet apart. It was called "Pa-Ohia, " and
some of the tress were seen in place ten years ago. It is probable that
the other fish traps were similarly provided.
The
walls of the Pakule are approximately nine inches above water at low tide,
and the height of the tide averages one and one-half feet. The walls
of the two pa-makiawa are just covered at low tide, but were probably a
little higher, as they are not so well preserved as those of the Pakule.
The two former pens, judging from the marine growths are much older
than the latter. On the walls of the pa-makiawa at Puleou, no dark stones
were observed, but a few were seen on the outer-wall of that at Keanapuaa,
and none on the side walls.
From rough soundings made, it was
observed that the corresponding depth of water inside and outside of the
fish traps did not appreciably differ. In the plans, and here it ends…
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