WIREMU goes bobbing

Tu Tangata, Issue 32, 1 October 1986, Page 42

WIREMU goes bobbing

written and illustrated by KINGI McKINNON

Wiremu woke up very early. Today his father had promised to take him bobbing for tuna.

Wiremu loved tuna - boiled, fried, baked. He didn’t care how they were cooked. Sometimes if his father caught plenty he would pawhera them. To do this, he would first take out the bones, salt the eels all over the meaty part, then hang them over the fence to dry. Wiremu liked them this way too.

Now he got up, dressed himself, washed his face and combed his hair. Soon he was eating breakfast with his mother, father and his sister Wiki.

His father smiled to himself as he watched him eat. Wiremu was excited. He had never been bobbing before.

When he was finished, his father said, “Wiremu. Go and find an empty tin.” In no time he was back with an old jam tin. “Ka pai son! It’s just the right size for huhu grubs,” said father. “What are hoo hoo grubs?” asked Wiremu. “Haere mai! Put on your gumboots and you’ll find out.” Soon they were off into the pine forest behind the house. Wiremu carried the tin, and his father carried the axe. Before long they came to a rotted pine which was covered in small round holes. Wiremu’s father began to split the log. Inside the logs were the long, fat grubs. They were round, and measured about three centimetres long. Some were a little smaller, some a little longer. Father gathered them up and put them in the tin.

Wiremu watched them wriggle and squirm and he decided he didn’t like them. Especially when his father told him they grew into big flying beetles with long feelers and long legs. Anyway, the tin was soon filled and it was time to get some flax.

This was taken from the back of the house, and made into muka, thin threads of flax. Then, the huhu grubs were threaded onto these with a needlethin stick, and tied into a ball, or bob. The bob was then tied very firmly to a thin green willow stick. It was now ready for use.

Off they went to the creek. Wiremu, his father and Kuri, their dog. Father carried the bob, a kete full of sandwiches and a thermos of cocoa. Wiremu carried an empty sack for the eels, and a curved stick to hit them on their tails. Kuri ran behind barking and wagging his tail.

At last they were at the creek’s edge. Wiremu kept back as father slid the bob into the water. A few minutes later he whispered to Wiremu to get his stick ready. Wiremu could see the bob shaking in his father’s hands as he slowly pulled it up. Wiremu was shaking too, but he stayed ready. Suddenly, father flicked the bob back onto the grass behind him, and Wiremu saw the long black shiny eel on the end of it. As it hit the ground it let go, and quickly began to slither back towards the creek. “Kia tere Wiremu!” called his father. “It’s getting away!”

For a moment Wiremu just stood and watched. Suddenly, Kuri, excited by the yelling and the movement of the eel, ran and took a bite at it. It changed direction and wriggled towards Wiremu. At last Wiremu hit at it with the stick and struck it near the tail. It stopped wriggling, and father slipped it into the sack. “Ka pai Wiremu!” he said. Then he slid the bob back into the water, and settled down to wait. In no time at all he had flipped out another eel. This time Wiremu didn’t hesitate. He ran straight for the eel and hit it twice. He even picked it up and put it into the sack. He was proud of himself and didn’t even mind the feel of the eel’s cold, slippery body. Now it was growing late. They had eaten the sandwiches, drunk the cocoa, and the sack was half full of eels. As father began to pack the things away in the kete, he noticed Wiremu clutching the bob. Only half the huhu grubs were left, as the eels had torn many away with their sharp teeth. “Go on Wiremu,” he said “Put it in the water!” Wiremu did, and sat on the river bank to wait. He waited and waited, but nothing happened. “Never mind,” said father “We must have caught them all. Let’s go home.”

Then, as Wiremu pulled the bob up, the stick began to wobble and shake. An eel’s head came out of the water, pulling and wriggling as hard as it could on the end of the bob. Wiremu was so surprised he let go. The bob floated down the stream into the shallower water. His father laughed, but Wiremu ran after it. Before the bob could float out into the swift current he grabbed it, and pulled it in. There on the end of the bob was the eel. Its teeth had become entangled in the flax fibres. Wiremu dragged it back to his father, and hit it with the stick. He felt happy, and held it up for his father and Kuri to see. Father was very pleased and Kuri yelped noisily. Tea that night was delicious. Fresh eels boiled with onions, small Maori potatoes, kumara and fresh hot rewena bread. Wiremu was a hero. He had caught his first eel, and his mother and Wiki were proud of him. Now it was time to go to bed. Wiremu was asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. What he dreamed of I don’t know. But when he smiled in his sleep, it could have been of anything. Kuri? Huhu grubs? Or, perhaps, tuna?