In 1957, A Pattern of Islands, written by Sir Arthur Grimble, was published. Grimble worked as a land commissioner for the Gilbert Islands in Micronesia (Pacific Ocean). In this book, among other things, an amazing ritual of "sleep magic" was described, with the help of which the local sorcerer managed to hypnotize and lure a flock of dolphins to the shore.
It all started with the fact that Grimble, who had been late on the islands on business, suddenly began to lose weight quickly, perhaps he caught some local infection or his body could not adapt to exotic food.
One way or another, when one of the local residents learned about his illness, he advised Grimble to add more dolphin meat to his diet and assured that after that the foreigner would immediately begin to gain weight. The only problem was that such meat on the island was not easy to get, dolphins were rarely hunted here.
The story is further described on behalf of Grimble himself as presented in his book:
“I figured out how I can get regular meat, which is rare on the island. The aborigine said that his relative from the village of Kuma - hereditary barker of brown dolphins. This aboriginal cousin was, in his words, an outstanding specialist in his field. At will, he could bring himself into a special half-asleep mental state, necessary for "calling dolphins."
In such a mental state, his spirit left his body, went to visit the dolphins living far beyond the western horizon. And there, having met with them, he invited them to dance at a festival in the village of Kuma. If he correctly pronounced the words of the invitation, the secret of which only very few people on the island knew, then the dolphins followed him with shouts of joy.
So, Mr. Grimble was taken one day to the village of Kuma, where everything was already prepared for the solemn holiday. The fat, good-natured beckoning dolphins, exchanging a couple of words of greeting with Mr. Grimble, immediately retired to his hut. There he sat all alone for several hours.
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Grimble continues his story:
“Then he suddenly jumped out of the hut and fell facedown, then got up, scratching the air in front of him with his fingers and whining at a strange high note, like a puppy. Then he began to shout the words in the local dialect: “Stand up! Stand up!.. They are coming, they are coming."
All the villagers threw themselves into the water and stood there, breathing heavily. And then the dolphins arrived.
They moved in a line towards us, two or three yards apart, as far as my eyes could see. They approached the shore so slowly that they were probably in a trance. Their leader pushed his feet into the shallow waters by calling dolphins. Suddenly he silently turned and walked lazily alongside the swimming leader of the dolphin pack towards the shallows.
The villagers greeted their guests with monotonous chants on the shore.
When we all approached the edge of the emerald bank, the dolphin's fins were already touching the sand. Dolphins waved them softly, as if asking for help. The men carefully helped them to get over all the sandy obstacles on the shallows. It looked as if the dolphins' only desire was to reach the shore."
Further, all the numerous hypnotized dolphins were immediately killed, and then gradually eaten.
Mr. Grimble, who had been eating well-salted dolphin meat for a long time, quickly gained weight, felt much more cheerful and was very pleased with it all.