i66 
Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
sunrise, I got a run, and before I could properly 
feel my fish he had taken eight or ten fathoms 
of slack line away. 
“ That’s a takuo ,” said Tebau. 
Now did I find the advantage of a thick line 
in a great depth of water, and with a strong 
fish at the end of it ; for although only a small 
takuo —about iolb.—this fellow gave me some 
trouble pulling him up, making swift dives when¬ 
ever he felt the line slacken a bit, and shaking 
his head violently in the endeavour to free him¬ 
self from the hook. As soon as I had got him 
in over the side one of the Pleasant Islanders lit 
our boat lantern, and I had a good look at my 
first takuo. In every respect but one I found 
him to be exactly like the common albicore in 
shape, colour, and markings, the only difference 
being the bony tail and thick laminated plates 
extending up from the tail for about four inches; 
the centre ridge of these laminations was as sharp 
as a knife-edge. This, however, was but a baby 
fish ; before daylight we caught three others, the 
largest of which we weighed at the trader’s 
house, it scaled 81 lb. Just as dawn began to 
break I hooked another, but when about half¬ 
way up he made such a fierce rush, that, seeing 
