to himself “If these had been human visitors some of the grass and reeds on which they sat in their canoe would be scattered about the place; moreover, they must have been fishing in the dark. Surely this is the work of fairies.”—Thinking thus he withdrew from the place and returned to rest awhile, determining to visit the place when night fell, and to try and discover something more about the supernatural fishermen. When the darkness came on he returned to the beach and waited there for many hours until he was tired out and almost ready to give up his watching, when suddenly he heard a voice cry, “The net here! the net here!” The fairies had returned to fish for mackerel, and soon Kahu saw two canoes with their elfin crews busily employed in laying nets. The fairies sang away over their work; their song being something like this:
“Drop the net in the water here!
Haul the net from the water there!”
the voices ringing out louder and louder.
Kahu was a small and unusually fair-skinned man, almost as white as the fairies themselves, so he slipped out among the fairies who were hauling the net, and he pulled away lustily with
