The Takuo. 
165 
me to look at, saying it was better bait than 
flying-fish, a young lad sitting next to me gave 
a grunt, and I heard his rough cinnet line 
grinding against the gunwale. In an instant 
we were all on the alert. That it was a heavy 
fish I could see. “ Shark ? ” I queried. 
“ No, feel the line,” he replied, and the 
moment I felt the jerky vibrations I knew that 
it was not a shark. Presently we caught sight 
of a white, wavy mass, and then up came a 
large, scaleless fish called a lahe'u. He was 
quite 2olb. or 251b., and kicked up a tre¬ 
mendous row when dropped into the boat, and 
accompanied his struggles by emitting a peculiar 
grunting sound. Although of a bright silvery 
colour, he was a most unpleasant creature to 
handle, for his skin was covered with a peculiar 
slimy exudation, and I was warned by my 
native friends to keep my line clear, or 
else I could never hold it if I got a heavy 
fish on. 
“ We must go out further,” said Tebau ; 
“ we are in too shallow water.” 
We drifted about for half an hour, and, 
meeting with no luck, were just about to try 
the lee side of the island, when, an hour before 
