The Maoris themselves are keen and clever fishermen, and have from time immemorial used the rude hooks of charred wood or bone found amongst all eastern peoples. When the use of metal became known, and long before our modern barbed hooks were invented, barbless hooks were made from nails and other iron scraps. In fishing for kawai there were long shanks slightly bent to accommodate the shell baits which were lashed on with native flax, the flashing of the pearl being evidently the attraction to the fish. The spoon used in civilised countries for pike and salmon is but a development of this style. Even when barbed hooks were introduced the Maoris cut them off on the plea that they were too much bother to extract when fish were feeding briskly. The bone hooks are universal among savage peoples in all latitudes.