304 THE CRUISE OF TEE " CACHALOT.'' 



being to all appearance much the fresher of the two. 

 Fair play seemed to demand that we should let them 

 fight it out ; but, sad to say, the other Kanakas could not 

 see things in that light, and Billy was soon despatched. 

 Rather needless killing, too ; for no one, except at starva- 

 tion-point, could have eaten the poor remains of leathery 

 flesh that still decorated that weather-beaten frame. 



But this sort of thing was tiring and unprofitable. 

 The interest of the place soon fizzled out, when it was 

 found there was so little worth taking away ; so, as the 

 day was getting on, it was decided to launch off and 

 start fishing. In a few minutes we were afloat again, 

 and anchored, in about four fathoms, in as favourable 

 a spot for our sport as ever I saw. Fish swarmed 

 about us of many sorts, but princip^illy of the " kauwhai," 

 a kind of mullet very plentiful about Auckland, and 

 averaging five or six pounds. Much to my annoyance, 

 we had not been able to get any bait, except a bit of raw 

 salt-pork, which hardly any fish but the shark tribe will 

 look at. Had I known or thought of it, a bit of goat 

 would have been far more attractive. 



However, as there was no help for it, we baited up 

 and started. " Nary nibble ermong 'em ! " growled Sam, 

 as we sat impatiently waiting for a bite. When we 

 hauled up to see what was wrong, fish followed the hook 

 up in hundreds, letting us know plainly as possible that 

 they only wanted something tasty. It was outrageous, 

 exasperating beyond measure ! At last Samuela grew so 

 tired of it that he seized his harpoon, and hurled it into 

 the middle of a company of kauwhai that were calmly 

 nosing around the bows. By the merest chance he 

 managed to impale one of them upon the broad point. 

 It was hardly in the boat before I had seized it, scaled 

 it. and cut it into neat little blocks. All hands rebaited 



