Deep-Sea Fishing in Polynesia. 
115 
thirty or forty canoes engaged. Watching for 
a favourable opportunity, when a lull occurs in 
the break of the surf on the reef, the paddles 
are struck into the water, and the little fleet 
dash over into the deep water beyond. Upon 
each outrigger gleams a tiny spark of red fire. 
This is from a small torch made of the split 
spathe of the coconut, and is used to ignite 
the larger torches at the fitting moment. 
The utmost silence prevails. Pipes are lit, 
and then a whispered consultation takes place. 
The fleet divides itself, one portion paddling 
slowly along the reef towards the south end of 
the island, and the other to the north. In a 
quarter of an hour each party has reached the 
position assigned to it. They are to work 
towards each other. Every now and then a 
flying-fish leaps out of the water and flies away 
into the encompassing darkness, to fall with a 
splash hundreds of feet off. At last the canoes 
are in line, forming a semi-circle. 
Fa! (“ Light up ”) is the steersman’s 
whispered order. 
The man who has hitherto paddled amidships 
lays his paddle down quietly and stands up, one 
foot on each gunwale, and a torch is passed up 
