, was a demon of the sea. He lived in a deep
sea cave, into which he sometimes shut himself behind closed doors of
coral. When he was hungry, he swam through the ocean shadows, always
watching the restless surface. When a canoe passed above him, he would
throw himself swiftly through the waters, upset the canoe, and seize
some of the boatmen and devour them. He was greatly feared by all the
fishermen of the Fijian coasts.

[Illustration: A Coconut Grove in Kona.]

Roko--a mo-o or dragon god--in his journey among the islands, stopped at
a village by the sea and asked for a canoe and boatmen. The people said:
"We have nothing but a very old canoe out there by the water." He went
to it and found it in a very bad condition. He put it in the water, and
decided that he could use it. Then he asked two men to go with him and
paddle, but they refused because of fear, and explained this fear by
telling the story of the water demon, who continually sought the
destruction of this canoe, and also their own death. Roko encouraged
them to take him to wage battle with Tuna, telling them he would destroy
the monster. They paddled until they were directly over Tuna's cave.
Roko told them to go off to one side and wait and watch, saying: "I am
going down to see this Tuna. If you see red blood boil up through the
water, you may be sure that Tuna has been killed. If the blood is black,
then you will know that he has the victory and I am dead."

Roko leaped into the water and went down--down to the door of the cave.
The coral doors were closed. He grasped them in his strong hands and
tore them open, breaking them in pieces. Inside he found cave after cave
of coral, and broke his way through until at last he awoke Tuna. The
angry demon cried: "Who is that?" Roko answered: "It is I, Roko, alone.
Who are you?"

Tuna aroused himself and demanded Roko's business and who guided him to
that place. Roko replied: "No one has guided me. I go from place to
place, thinking that there is no one else in the world."

Tuna shook himself angrily. "Do you think I am nothing? This day is your
last."

Roko replied: "Perhaps so. If the sky falls, I shall die."

Tuna leaped upon Roko and bit him. Then came the mighty battle of the
coral caves. Roko broke Tuna into several pieces--and the red blood
poured in boiling bubbles upward through the clear ocean waters, and
the boatmen cried: "The blood is red--the blood is red--Tuna is dead by
the hand of Roko."