nearly ten o'clock
It consisted of a series of deep channels or connected pools running or situated amidst a network of minor reefs , the surfaces of which were , for the most part , bare at low water . Generally the depth was from eight to ten fathoms ; in places , however , it was much deeper , and I subsequently found that there were spots whereon I could stand -LRB- on the coral ledge -RRB- and drop my line into chasms of thirty-two or thirty-three fathoms . Here the water was almost as blue to the eye as the ocean , and here the very largest fish resorted -- such as the _ pura _ , a species of rock-cod , and a blue-scaled groper , the native name of which I can not now recall . It must have been nearly ten o'clock when the canoes were all in position , and the word was given to let go lines . The particular spot in which we were congregated was about three acres in extent and about seven fathoms in depth , with water as clear as crystal ; and even the dullest eye could discern the smallest pebble or piece of broken coral lying upon the bottom , which was generally composed of patches of coarse sand surrounded by an interlacing fringe of growing coral , or white , blue , or yellow boulders . A glance over the side showed us that the _ gatala _ had arrived ; we could see numbers of them swimming lazily to and fro beneath , awaiting the flowing tide which would soon cover the lagoon from one shore to the other with swarms of young bonito , as they swam about in search of such places as that in which we were now about to begin fishing . Each man had baited his hook with the third of an _ atuli _ -- at this stage of their life about four inches long and exactly the colour and shape of a young mackerel -- and within five minutes after '' _ Tu'u tau kafa _ ! ''