lender, sharp-pointed piece leaning backward at a sharp
angle. This was usually a consecrated bit of bone or mother of pearl,
and was supposed to have peculiar power to hold fast any fish which had
taken the bait.

[Illustration: In the Sea of Sacred Caves.]

These bones were usually taken from the body of some one who while
living had been noted for great power or high rank. This sharp piece was
tightly tied to the larger bone or shell, which formed the shank of the
hook. The sacred barb of Maui's hook was a part of the magic bone he had
secured from his ancestors in the under-world--the bone with which he
struck the sun while lassooing him and compelling him to move more
slowly through the heavens.

"Earth-twisted"--fibres of vines--twisted while growing, was the cord
used by Maui in tying the parts of his magic hook together.

Long and strong were the fish lines made from the olona fibre, holding
the great fish caught from the depths of the ocean. The fibres of the
olona vine were among the longest and strongest threads found in the
Hawaiian Islands.

Such a hook could easily be cast loose by the struggling fish, if the
least opportunity were given. Therefore it was absolutely necessary to
keep the line taut, and pull strongly and steadily, to land the fish in
the canoe.

Maui did not use his magic hook for a long time. He seemed to understand
that it would not answer ordinary needs. Possibly the idea of making
the supernatural hook did not occur to him until he had exhausted his
lower wit and magic upon his brothers.

It is said that Maui was not a very good fisherman. Sometimes his end of
the canoe contained fish which his brothers had thought were on their
hooks until they were landed in the canoe.

Many times they laughed at him for his poor success, and he retaliated
with his mischievous tricks.

"E!" he would cry, when one of his brothers began to pull in, while the
other brothers swiftly paddled the canoe forward. "E!" See we both have
caught great fish at the same moment. Be careful now. Your line is
loose. "Look out! Look out!"

All the time he would be pulling his own line in as rapidly as possible.
Onward rushed the canoe. Each fisherman shouting to encourage the
others. Soon the lines by the tricky manipulation of Maui would be
crossed. Then as the great fish was brought near the side of the boat
Maui the little, the mischievous one, would slip his hook toward the
head of the fish and flip it