C—l.

When we were coming home from Cascade on the 22nd June, instead of the shoals of fish, the sound appeared to be full of grampus, all in a hurry on business, and I think there will be a lot of fish missing, for each of those great brutes require a large basketful for breakfast. But it is all fair. They will avenge the squid, and pay the mullet and " mendos " off in their own coin. I caught a shark some months ago with seven pieces of white blubber 4 in. in diameter in his stomach. Ido not know if a grampus has such thick blubber, but I suspect it came from one of them that got paid off like the mullet. If the grampus have such blubber they would be very valuable, but impossible to catch except with a net, and I would not be sure of that, because they are exceptionally clever and quick-sighted. But such a net might be useful otherwise, even if it failed to catch grampus. I know that many fish mature very early, but I never got milt or roe in a moki, though I have caught them at all seasons up to 16 lb. weight. A full-grown moki may weigh hundreds of pounds. It is said that its cousin, the trumpeter, does not mature under 15 lb., and that they have been caught up to 60 lb. weight on a line in 70 fathoms deep ; but there is no catching moki on a line, because they will not go near a bait, but are very easily netted, and I should not wonder if there were monster mokis outside Dusky Heads. 4th August: All fish appear to be scarce here now, though there are a few mokis ; and a few days ago we saw a shoal of Mendosoma on the surface after squid. The red whale-food has not all gone yet. There are a few butter-fish about, and I sometimes spear one 5 lb. or 6 lb. weight. The water is so clear that you could see the bottom 40 ft. deep. The Mendosoma do not come into shallow water now at night, and we cannot net them. It seems they only come in for security when there are many enemies about —that is, from November to May. Eichaed Heney.

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