120 
Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
themselves preyed upon by a fish of immense 
size, called the pala —a fish quite distinct from 
the palu, for it is surface-loving and is never 
caught at night. These sometimes attain a 
length of 7ft., but in girth they are com¬ 
paratively slender. In consequence of their 
flesh being somewhat coarse, they are not as 
much esteemed by the natives as the tau-tau, 
and in times of fish-plenty are seldom captured. 
They are a beautifully coloured fish, with dark 
blue backs, and sides of silvery grey, and in 
shape exactly resemble the English mackerel. 
The head is like that of the tau-tau —a series 
of hard bone-plates—and the jaws, which in a 
full-grown fish are a foot in length, are armed 
with a single row of terribly sharp, saw-like 
teeth, capable of severing a man’s arm as easily 
as if it were struck off by a blow from an axe. 
The natives of the little island of Nanomaga, 
in the Ellice Group, six hundred miles from 
Samoa, are famous for the skill they display in 
pala fishing, which is of a very exciting nature, 
on account of the great strength and swiftness 
of even a moderately-sized fish. The tackle 
employed is made of four-plait coconut cinnet, 
and the hook used is always of European make 
