husband. I do not know. But Sipi was a fine wife to me."




_The Fisher Folk of Nukufetau_

Early one morning, about a week after I had settled down on Nukufetau as
a trader, I opened my chest of fishing-gear and began to overhaul it. In
a few minutes I was surrounded by an eager and interested group of
natives, who examined everything with the greatest curiosity.

Now for the preceding twelve months I had been living on the little
island of Nanomaga, a day's sail from Nukufetau; and between Nanomaga
and Nukufetau there was a great bitterness of long standing--the
Nanomagans claimed to be the most daring canoe-men and expert fishermen
in all the eight isles of the Ellice Group, and the people of Nukufetau
resented the claim strongly. The feeling had been accentuated by my good
friend the Samoan teacher on Nanomaga, himself an ardent fisherman,
writing to his brother minister on Nukufetau and informing him that
although I was not a high-class Christian I was all right in all other
respects, and a good fisherman--"all that he did not know we have taught
him, therefore," he added slyly, "let your young men watch him so that
they may learn how to fish in deep and rough water, such as ours."
These remarks were of course duly made public, and caused much
indignation, neither the minister nor his flock liking the gibe about
the deep, rough water; also the insinuation that anything about fishing
was to be learnt from the new white man was annoying and uncalled for.

I must here mention that the natives of De Peyster's Island (Nukufetau)