“They who believe not in God will believe in ghosts.” This is the nature of superstition, of which these Tahitians are an example:
The Tahitians had great confidence in the power of red feathers, attributing large success in fishing to their presence on the canoes, but had little conception of the soul or of duty; and, while faithless toward God, they were credulous toward the most absurd imposture, placing their trust in fortune-tellers, dreams, and signs of good or ill luck.—Pierson, “The Miracles of Missions.”
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Fishermen the world over are as prone to superstition as sailors are, and many curious notions prevail among them as to what shall be done to court luck in their catches.
One of the strangest notions in this respect is that held by the Indians in British Columbia. With great ceremony and solemnity these red men go out to meet “the first salmon,” endeavoring in flattering tones to win the favor of the fish by addressing them as “great chiefs.”
The salmon fisheries in California used to be responsible for a queer custom on the part of the Indians. Every spring they would “dance for salmon.” If the fish did not appear with that celerity deemed appropriate there would be employed a “wise man,” who made an image of a swimming fish which was placed in the water in the hope of attracting live fish to the bait.
The Japanese fishermen have the quaint notion that silence must be observed, and even the women left at home are not permitted to talk lest the fish should hear and disapprove. Among the members of the primitive race of the Ainos, the first fish caught is brought in through a window instead of a door, so that the other fish “may not see.”
Among the Eskimos it is held that bad luck will come should their women sew while the men are fishing. If the necessity for mending arises the women must do the job shut up in little tents out of sight of the fishermen.
The fishermen off the northeast coast of Scotland will, under no circumstances, allow a fisherman at sea to make mention of certain objects on land, such as, for instance, “dog,” “swine,” “cow,” etc. If on land chickens are not to be counted before they are hatched, so at sea fish must not be counted till the catch be completed. The Scots think that it is good luck to find a rat gnawing at a net; also a horseshoe nailed to the mast will help; but the greatest good luck of all is to see a mouse aboard.—Harper’s Weekly.