with prickly, inverted scales--like the feathers of a French fowl of a
certain breed. The head is somewhat cod-shaped, with eyes quite as large
as a crown-piece; the teeth are many, small, and soft, and bend to a
firm pressure; and the bones in the fin and tail are so soft and
flexible that they may be bent into any shape, but when dried are of the
appearance and consistency of gelatine. The length of the largest _palu_
I have seen was five feet six inches, with a girth of about forty
inches. This one was caught in about ninety fathoms of water; and when I
opened the stomach I found it to contain five or six undigested fish,
about seven inches in length, of the groper species, and for which the
natives of the island had no name or knowledge of beyond the appellation
_ika kehe_--"unknown fish"--that is, fish which are only seen when taken
from the stomach of a deep-sea fish, or are brought to the surface or
washed ashore after some submarine disturbance.

The flesh of the _palu_ is greatly valued by the natives of the
equatorial islands of the Pacific for its medicinal qualities as a
laxative, whilst the oil with which it is permeated is much used as a
remedy for rheumatism and similar complaints. Within half an hour of its
being taken from the water the skin changes to a dead black, and the
flesh assumes the appearance of whale blubber. Generally, the fish is
cooked in the usual native ground-oven as quickly as possible, care
being taken to wrap it closely up in the broad leaves of the _puraka_
plant--a species of gigantic taro--in order that none of the oil may be
lost. Thinking that the oil, which is perfectly colourless and with
scarcely any odour, might prove of value, I once "tried out" two of the
largest fish taken, and obtained a gallon. This I sent to a firm of
drug-merchants in Sydney; but unfortunately the vessel was lost on the
passage.

The _palu_ does not seem to have a wide habitat. In the Tonga Islands it
is, I believe, very rare; and in Fiji, Samoa, and other mountainous
groups throughout Polynesia the natives appear to have no knowledge of
it, although they have a fish possessing the same peculiar
characteristics, but of a somewhat different shape. I have fished for it
without success at half a dozen places in Samoa, in New Britain, and New
Ireland. But it is generally to be found about the coasts of any of the
low-lying coral islands of the Union (or Tokelau) Group, the Ellice,
Gilbert, Marshall, and