334 TEE CEUISE OF TEE " CACEALOT." 



the ^rtful creature would turn to go, and a sudden 

 jerk of the line then reminded him that he was no 

 longer a free agent, but mounting at headlong speed 

 to a strange bourne whence he never returned to tell 

 the tale. My catch that lovely morning scaled over a 

 hundredweight in less than an hour, none of the fish 

 being less than ten pounds in weight. 



The Maories have quite an original way of catching 

 barracouta. They prepare a piece of " rimu " (red pine) 

 about three inches long, by an inch broad, and a quarter 

 of an inch thick. Through one end of this they drive 

 an inch nail bent upwards, and filed to a sharp point. 

 The other end is fastened to about a fathom of stout 

 fishing-line, which is in turn secured to the end of a 

 five-foot pole. Seated in a boat with sail set, they slip 

 along until a school of barracouta is happened upon. 

 Then the peak of the sail is dropped, so as to deaden 

 the boat's way, while the fishermen ply their poles with 

 a sidelong sweep that threshes the bit of shining red 

 through the water, making it irresistibly attractive to a 

 struggling horde of ravenous fish. One by one, as 

 swiftly as the rod can be wielded, the lithe forms drop 

 off the barbless hook into the boat, till the vigorous arm 

 can no longer respond to the will of the fisherman, or 

 the vessel will hold no more. 



Such were the goodly proportions of this first Solander 

 whale of ours that, in spite of the serious loss of the 

 case, we made thirteen and a half tuns of oil. When 

 the fifteen huge casks containing it were stowed in 

 their final positions, they made an imposing show, 

 inspiring all of us with visions of soon being homeward 

 bound. For the present we were, perforce, idle ; for 

 the wind had set in to blow steadily and strongly right 

 up the Straits, preventing any attempts to get out while 



