A Caroline Islands Catch

This catch was shown to Dr. W. H. Furness in 1902 by a Natik woman, "Emily," who was returning to the Caroline Islands, on the steamer Oceana, from Australia, where she had gone from Ponapè as a nurse in an English family. Natik (or Ngatik) is a small island south of Ponapè, with a population of about one hundred and fifty. It has twice been swept by tidal waves and almost all of the inhabitants killed. The natives speak a strange dialect of Ponapè intermingled with English words. They are chiefly the descendants of an African negro from a whaling vessel and a native woman from Ponapè.

First: Opening A. (Taking up the right palmar string first.

Second: Take the left hand out of all the loops, and let them hang straight down from the right hand held palm down with the fingers pointing to the left.

Third: Put the tips of the left thumb and little finger together and insert them from the left side into the right index loop (Fig. 314); then separate the left thumb and little finger, and, taking the loop off the right index, draw the hands apart (Fig. 315). This movement arranges the string on the left hand in the "First Position," and on the right hand puts a twisted loop on the thumb, a twisted loop on the little finger and a string across the palm.

Fourth: With the left index take up from below (as in Opening A) the string on the right palm (Fig. 316) and separate the hands (Fig. 317).

Fifth: Bend the left thumb away from you over the left near index string, and take up from below on the back of the thumb the left far index string (Fig. 318, Left hand), and return the thumb to its former position.

Sixth: Bend the right thumb away from you over the right far thumb string, and take up from below on the back of the thumb the right near little finger string (Fig. 318, Right hand), and return the thumb to its position.

Seventh: Bend the left index down, and pick up from below on the back of its tip the left near index string (Fig. 319, Left hand) and return the index to its position.

Eighth: Bend the right index down, and pick up from below on the back of its tip the right far thumb string (not the string passing across the palm) (Fig. 319, Right hand), and return the index to its position.

Ninth: Keep the strings on the index fingers well up at the tips by pressing the thumb against the index, and bend each little finger over the far little finger string and all three fingers down on the palm to hold down the little finger string (Fig. 320). Then with the teeth pull the lower left thumb loop (the one whose far string crosses the palm) up over the left upper thumb loop, over the tip of the thumb, and let it drop on the palmar side. In the same way with the teeth pull the right lower thumb loop off the right thumb. In each case be careful not to disturb the upper thumb loop (Fig. 321).

Tenth: Release the loops from the little fingers, and extend the figure between the thumbs and the tips of the index fingers. It is not absolutely necessary to turn the palms away from you (Fig. 322). If the figure fails to appear after this last movement, it is because the right thumb loops have become disarranged; it is essential that the right far thumb string form a cross between the right thumb and index.

If a second person put his hand through the middle diamond of the figure, his wrist will be caught in a loop if the strings be dropped from the left hand, and the right hand strings pulled to the right. His wrist will not be caught if the strings be dropped from the right hand and the left hand strings pulled to the left.

This figure is closely related to the Torres Straits catch, the "King Fish." The result produced by the first four movements of the "King Fish" differs from the result of the first four movements of this catch merely in the twist in the left index loop. The opening movements of this figure are very neat, and, so far as I know, are not found in any other string figure. Of course the same result can be obtained, if after Opening A you release the right index loop and give the right thumb and index loops a single twist.

All these catches, whether of wrist or finger, as well as the tricks in which the string is unexpectedly drawn from the hand or neck, possess a great attraction to all natives; it is truly delightful to witness their pleasure when they are successful, and their gratification at the observer's astonishment which it will amply repay him to make very evident.