with one hand so as to keep from drifting. My
usual companions were the resident native teacher and two stalwart young
natives of the island--Tulu'ao and Muli'ao; and I may here indulge in a
little vanity when I say that my success as a _palu_-fisher was regarded
as something phenomenal, only one other white man in the group, a trader
on the atoll of Funafuti, having ever caught a _palu_, or, in fact,
tried to catch one. But then I had such beautiful tackle that even the
most skilled native fisherman had no chance when competing with me. My
lines were of twenty-seven-strand white American cotton, as thick as a
small goose-quill, and easily handled, never tangling or twisting like
the native cinnet; and my hooks were the admiration and envy of all who
saw them. They were of the "flatted" Kirby type, eyed, but with a curve
in the shank, which was five inches in length, and as thick as a
lead-pencil. I had bought these in Sydney, and during the voyage down
had rigged them with snoodings of the very best seizing wire, intending
to use them for shark-fishing. I had smaller ones down to three inches,
but always preferred using the largest size, as the _palu_ has a large
mouth, and it is a difficult matter in a small canoe on a dark night to
free a hook embedded in the gullet of a fish which is awkward to handle
even when exhausted, and weighing as much as sixty or seventy pounds;
while I also knew that any unusual noise or commotion would be almost
sure to attract some of those most dangerous of all night-prowlers of
the Pacific, the deep-water blue shark.

Paddling out due westward from the lee side of the island, where the one
village is situated, we would bring-to in about seventy or eighty
fathoms. As I always used leaden sinkers, my companions invariably let
me lower first to test the depth, as with a two or three-pound lead my
comparatively thin line took but little time in running out and touching
bottom. A whole flying-fish was used for one bait by the natives, it
being tied on to the inner curve of the great wooden hook, whilst I cut
one in half, fore-and-aft, and ran my hook through it lengthwise.

The utmost silence was always observed; and even when lighting our pipes
we were always careful not to let the reflection of the flame of the
match fall upon the water, on account of the sharks, which would at once
be attracted to the canoe, and hover about until they were rewarded for
their vigilance by seizing the firs