Hino, the Apostate. 
333 
become all but forgotten in men’s minds. Tati, 
the young chief, was now a great man, for he 
had sailed to Nukutavake and Vairaatea with a 
great fleet of canoes, and had slain ail the grown 
men and old women there and brought back 
many of the young people as slaves. Although 
Vahitahi is but a day’s sail from Nukutavake 
if the wind be strong and fair, Tati and his 
canoes, when they returned, were driven hither 
and thither for thirty days by the strong cur¬ 
rents, till the people grew weak for the want 
of water and food. Once, indeed, did they see 
the tops of the coconut-palms of Vahitahi rising 
from the sea, but at nightfall they had sunk 
again, for the current carried the canoes away 
again to the setting sun. Then, by and by, 
some of those with Tati began to die. 
And in the night there came three great 
sharks that swam to and fro and rubbed their 
heads against the sides of the canoe, and as 
they moved through the silent water—for the 
wind was dead—their bodies shone like fire 
through the blackness of the sea. All night 
long Tati and his men sat waiting for the wind 
and watching the sharks, till at last a young 
priest named Matara came to Tati, and said— 
