122 EDIBLE FISHES. 



yoii will nevei- make a good shot), in readiness to strike. Mind your 

 line is well coiled. Warily, warily ! Now the vast black mass begins 

 to slide off the weeds. Gently ! not too great a hurry ! Wait till you 

 see the scowling face within two feet of the boat, and let him have it 

 well foi-ward. 



" ' Habet ! Back all shai-p !' and a imsh and a drag that cuts your 

 ai-m. Get between him and the deep sea ! There he sulks down at the 

 bottom, grasping the rock with his enormous fins. Patience ; get hold 

 of the staff, and drive the points further into him. There ! you have got 

 the woi-st of that round — a thwack on the side of your head from the 

 staff that makes it sing again ! Kever mind, he is heading towards that 

 sandy bay. Let him pull the boat himself. Now the water is shoaling, 

 Splash, puff; I had no idea it was so deep ; up to my armpits, by jove ! 

 Squatter on, shallower and shallower, till, after one or two trials, you 

 get the shaft in your hands. Now, look out ! There is a foot-long spine 

 in that lashing tail, and if it touches you, Auckland Hos})ital or lock- 

 jaw. Prise down the s-taff ; shove him upwards ; put the other gi-ains 

 into him ; and up the sandy shore he slides, blowing and snorting like a 

 grampus, fighting to the last. Run him up, iim him up, and bring an 

 oar ; stick it across his tail, bear upon it from both sides, and give me 

 the tomahawk ! Snick ! and the enormous mass is done for ; we have a 

 speai' ten inches long, and bait enough for a day. 



" ' Whew ! What a fight ! Let us have a rest and a pipe. What 

 does he weigh 1 Some 905).' " 



" One of the numerous cui-ses of ci\'ilization is the way in which 

 ii'on has driven the spear of the Stingaree out of the market, Avdthout 

 properly su])plying its place. In Samoa these Ray stings are in high 

 repute still, not only foi- spear heads (in which case only an inch or two 

 is used, lightly fastened to the staff, so as to leave the point to fester in 

 the flesh), but, they say, as a quaint means of getting lid of an obnoxious 

 chief. You break off some inch or so from the sharp end of the sting, 

 and stick it in a peculiar way in the sleeping-mat. The obnoxious chief 

 casts himself down to rest, possibly well filled with kava, and the first 

 small barb penetrates Ms skin ; slightly distressed, he turns x'ound again, 

 and a second one enters ; and so, tossing and tumbling, he passes the 

 night, till the whole is safe within his ribs, working up like an awn of 

 barley. Soon after he dies with symptoms of general dropsy, with but 

 little external marks to tell the reason why. I know not whether this 

 Ije true or no ; but I do know that it was told me by a Samoan chief, 



