AERE MAI TE PATITO.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 213, 8 September 1923, Page 17

AERE MAI TE PATITO.

! MAT FEVER AND SEA SLUGS. (WYXKRITH KEVELI..) I ''Mat, Fever!" Tlie visitor pricks up hie ! ! ears, alert, with n mixture of interest: 'and alarm, on first hearing the n>rm ' ! Then tlic party having been sufficiently I ; "titrunu' on"—if etringablc— explanations ; follow. I The days and niglits are hot; overv- : ; thing humid and sticky, the rain <h h 'i s j j baling out the skies by the barrel 7ull | I low fleecy clouds scud through the palm I j tops, the surrounding world of blue sea i I and eky is -blotted out: beyond the reef i j you know the sea is like oil. I' Waking from heavy sleep to this ' I warm wet world your maid l>rin» B you a cup of tea. All dolled up you "get off ' for your daily task—languidly. Midd-iv sees you back again, your ducks gt i L-" ' with rain and perspiration, are discarded ! e'er you crawl inside the mosquito ne , You sleep desprte the various discorus'! and harmonies ot Polynesian villa . 1 f I Awake in a couple of'hours or so tn !' the day's toil completed- n light f l ' ! -spot" or two to keep the damp out" by ! I eight you are abed mite mo™ , J i ' a ' ul so °" j I Two or three darg of tlii i the aetack wears off/the sleenine",, U,en and you feel normal again * ™ « oe6 ' '

I That's mat fever! But what's this to! do with sea slugs? Squatted on the mats of mine host j one night with some elderly Polynesians j. the subject of •mat fever" propped up. |, "Ah!" said they, "that's what wo ! rail "sleepy 'time." " "Yes! That is the time or t;ie coming ! of the patito." said l'ita the son of old ! "Dry Mouth." -The patito; and what! I are they, or what have they to do with ' lit?" I laughingly ask. !• J And so the association or mat fever i with patito eamo to light. i With the moiet hot weather comes tiic ;: j "sleepy time' , and then is the time to ■be alert for patito. For some particular , 'reason, it is as a loud more especially,; i prized by the women folk, and by them; most sought. Many a lime had I met ■ I women or children with lips, finirers and n j cheeks stained a rich purple: though the : cause had p llzz | o( i lUI . [ hud not inquired, : I I'm liad jiiit it down to the eating of s !-sea iin-hills or some fruit. '■' J The patito is a litlie brownish-looking | J slimy sea-slug, about tin- size of our ' 'garden specie*. When they arrive they ji .ilo so in multitudes, coming right up to ' ;the edge of the shore, floating, creeping, I i wriggling in one close mass. The dis- i Icoverej of this host mur-t not call out I ' , the tidimrs, though others may join in if l I they sec what U afoot. !1 • To gather mem the hand i-niy s-Imuld jbe used: to leave them is i» I' l - ,, them. While they arr beiii.' gathered ; they are also eaten niw. with rolwll, and" as to touch one leme- a mark you ] I may imagine, the effect of a hearty feed, ( ;W a hand brushed across the fare oii.-e i or twice. Raw slugs! Ugh! What! Still , what about raw oysters ri-iit oIT the . - J rocks when tin- fisheries' inspector is i - elsewhere? The lucky finder of these delicacies ; having collected all they may need, plus ; , the hold cargo, then (if they observe ancient custom 1 call °" r three times.! 1 "I'ati'to! I'atilo! Acre kite kainga!" (Sea slugs! Sea slifgt-! Cio away home!) and behold, they go! At least it would eeem so.

j ~" . I ! Some weeks after, during a very moist spell, I was loafing along the road beside i the shore, when I met Manea and her I three little girls, all showing the tell 'tale stains of patito. .Manea herself smiled in an almost shamefaced way, ! rather as a boy might caught amongst I the raspberry canes, as she announced I "ICau afire mai to patito." (The sea slugs I have arrived) and held the small kit up i for mc to eec the shining brownish mass ! of little slugs. "Where, are they?" I ■asked. She waved her graceful arm to--1 wards the shore. "Show mc." I said. I '-Viviko! acre ki tai," (quickly! come ■sdiorowards") was her reply. We hurried acrose the damp sand, and I followed her into the shallow water, smooth as glass. The slugs were not easy to find, but shortly she exclaimed "Tera te patito!" Sure enough there they were, or all that was left of them, apparently most intent on obeying orders, for all were heading seawards with a epeed seemingly out of all proportion to their size. "In a little while." said Manea. "they will be gone -ompletely, you would not see one." Even as we watched them they seemed to be disappearing from all around us. So these mysterious little creatures vanish as quickly as they appear, one more marvel of the hundreds found amid the coral reefs.