60 A MISSION TO VITI. 



hence termed Vula i Balolo lailai, i. e. the little Balolo 

 month. Myriads appear about the latter end of No- 

 vember, generally on the 25th, which from that fact is 

 known as the Vula i Balolo levu, or great Balolo month ; 

 and the natives of the coast are particularly busy in 

 catching and forwarding the delicacy of the season to 

 friends residing in places deprived of it, presents all 

 the more appreciated as a whole year must elapse be- 

 fore the same boon can again be conferred. 



In a letter dated Levuka, Fiji, December 6th, 1861, 

 and addressed to her friends, an English lady gives the 

 following account : " In November we all went for a 

 few days to Wakaya, about ten miles east-north-east 

 from Ovalau, in order to see the Balolos, which rise out 

 of the reefs just before daylight, first in small numbers, 

 but about sunrise in such masses that the sea looks 

 more solid than liquid. As they were to appear on the 

 morning of the 25th, we retired to rest at an early hour 

 the night before, and rose with the moon, about one 

 o'clock in the morning. An hour's pull in the whale 

 boat brought us to the very spot they were to come. 

 We found several natives already collected there in 

 boats and canoes, all anxiously looking out who should 

 get the first. This they discovered by sitting with their 

 hands in the water as the canoe was gently paddled about. 

 Presently there was great shouting, nets were put out, 

 the excitement commenced. At first our nets did very 

 well, but soon the Balolos became too numerous for 

 them to be of any use, and they were caught by the 

 hand and thrown into the baskets with which the boats 

 were filled. We placed a white handkerchief about 



