About seven o'clock in the morning
A little while after , the officer of the watch saw a heavy rain squall coming down from the mountain gorges , and good-naturedly called out to the fisherman to either come alongside or paddle ashore , to avoid being swamped . The clever man replied in French , somewhat ungraciously , that he could quite well look after himself . A little after 3 A.M. the squall ceased , and as neither Marchmont nor the canoe was visible , the French sailors concluded that he had taken their officer 's advice and gone on shore . About seven o'clock in the morning , as I was bathing in the little river that runs into Apia Harbour , a native servant girl of the local resident medical missionary came to the bank and called to me , and told me a startling story . My obstinate friend had been picked up at sea , four miles from Apia Harbour , by a _ taumualua _ -LRB- native-built whaleboat -RRB- . He was in a state of exhaustion and collapse , and when brought into Apia was more dead than alive , and the doctor was quickly summoned I at once went to see him , but was not admitted to his room , and for three days he had to lie up , suffering from shock -- and , I trust , a feeling of humility for being such an obstinate blockhead . His story was simple enough : During the heavy rain squall his bait was taken by some large and powerful fish -LRB- he maintained that it was a _ La ` heu _ , though most probably it was a shark -RRB- , and thirty or forty yards of line flew out before he could get the pull of it .