Atolls of the Sun

Breakfast with elders—The great Mapuhi 114 enters—He tells of San Francisco—Of prizefighters and Police gazettes—I reside with Nohea—Robber-crabs—The cats that warred and caught...

Traders and divers assembling for the 175 diving—A story told by Llewellyn at night—The mystery of Easter Island—Strangest spot in the world—Curious statues and houses—Borrowed...

Pearl hunting in the lagoon—Previous 211 methods wasteful—Mapuhi shows me the wonders of the lagoon—Marvelous stories of sharks—Woman who lost her arm—Shark of Samoa—Deacon who...

History of the pearl hunger—Noted jewels 230 of past—I go with Nohea to the diving—Beautiful floor of the Lagoon—Nohea dives many times—Escapes shark narrowly—Descends 148 feet—...

Story of the wondrous pearls planted in 249 the lagoon of Pukapuka—Tepeva a Tepeva, the crippled diver, tells it—How a European scientist improved on nature—Tragedy of Patasy an...

The palace of the governor of the 271 Marquesas in the vale of Atuona—Monsieur L’Hermier des Plantes, Ghost Girl, Miss Tail, and Song of the Nightingale—_Tapus_ in the South Sea...

The dismal abode of the 294 Peyrals—Stark-white daughter of Peyral—Only white maiden in the Marquesas—I hunt wild bulls—Peyral’s friendliness—I visit his house—He strikes me and...

In the valley of Vaitahu—With Vanquished 319 Often and Seventh Man He Is So Angry He Wallows in the Mire—Worship of beauty in the South Seas—Like the ancient Greeks—Care of the...

Skilled tattooers of Marquesas Islands a 336 generation ago—Entire bodies covered with intricate tattooed designs—The foreigner who had himself tattooed to win the favor of a Ma...

A fantastic but dying language—The 364 Polynesian or Maori Tongue—Making of the first lexicons—Words taken from other languages—Decay of vocabularies with decrease of population...

Holy Week—How the rum was saved during 414 the storm—An Easter Sunday “Celebration”—The Governor, Commissaire Bauda and I have a discussion—Paul Vernier, the Protestant Pastor,...

Monsieur l’Inspecteur des Etablissements 460 Français de l’Océanie—How the school house was inspected—I receive my congé—The runaway pigs—Mademoiselle Narbonne goes with Lutz to...

_“NOUS partons!_ We air off—off!” shouted _Capitaine_ Moet, gaily, as the _Marara_, the schooner _Flying Fish_, slipped through the narrow, treacherous pass of the barrier-reef...

THE crusader who entered Jerusalem had no deeper feeling of realization of a long-cherished hope than I when my foot imprinted its mold in the glistening sand of the atoll of Ni...

A CURRENT set against us all night. Now I understood fully the alarms and misgivings that had caused the first and following discoverers of the “Pernicious Islands” to curse the...

WORD we got at Anaa of a few tons of copra at Kaukura sent us hurrying there. The wind was against us, and we drew long sides of a triangle before we reached that atoll, which w...

_“Maintenant_”, said Captain Moet, as he gave orders for the course, “we weel veesit ze king ov ze Paumotu. Monsieur O’Breeon, ’e got no nose, bot ’e ees _magnifique_. ’E like o...

THERE was no stir on the quay of Takaroa. In these latitudes the civilized stranger is shocked by the indifference to his arrival of the half-naked native. It enrages a prideful...

Breakfast with elders—The great Mapuhi enters—He tells of San Francisco—Of prizefighters and Police gazettes—I reside with Nohea—Robber crabs—The cats that warred and caught fish.

MAPUHI, though a zealous Mormon, was not illiberal in his posture toward other faiths. In his long years he had entertained a number of them as ways to salvation before the apos...

THE schooner _Marara_ unloaded her cargo of supplies after several days of riding on and off the lee of the island, and went on her voyage to other atolls. McHenry and Kopcke jo...

Traders and divers assembling for the diving—A story told by Llewellyn at night—The mystery of Easter Island—Strangest spot in the world—Curious statues and houses—Borrowed wive...

Pearl hunting in the lagoon—Previous methods wasteful—Mapuhi shows me the wonders of the lagoon—Marvelous stories of sharks—Woman who lost her arm—Shark of Samoa—Deacon who rode...

History of the pearl hunger—Noted jewels of past—I go with Nohea to the diving—Beautiful floor of the lagoon—Nohea dives many times—Escapes shark narrowly—Descends 148 feet—No p...

Story of the wondrous pearls planted in the lagoon of Pukapuka—Tepeva a Tepeva, the crippled diver, tells it—How a European scientist improved on nature—Tragedy of Patasy and Ma...

The palace of the governor of the Marquesas in the vale of Atuona—Monsieur L’Hermier des Plantes, Ghost Girl, Miss Tail, and Song of the Nightingale—_Tapus_ in the South Seas—St...

The dismal abode of the Peyrals—Stark-white daughter of Peyral—Only white maiden in the Marquesas—I hunt wild bulls—Peyral’s friendliness—I visit his house—He strikes me and thr...

In the valley of Vaitahu—With Vanquished Often and Seventh Man He Is So Angry He wallows in the Mire—Worship of beauty in the South Seas—Like the ancient Greeks—Care of the body...

Skilled tattooers of Marquesas Islands a generation ago—Entire bodies covered with intricate tattooed designs—The foreigner who had himself tattooed to win the favor of a Marque...

A fantastic but dying language—The Polynesian or Maori Tongue—Making of the first lexicons—Words taken from other languages—Decay of vocabularies with decrease of population—Hum...

AS long as I live, I shall have, as my avatar of tragedy, Mademoiselle Narbonne. Fate had marked her for desolation. The grim drama of the half-caste whose spirit is riven by he...

Holy Week—How the rum was saved during the storm—An Easter Sunday “Celebration”—The Governor, Commissaire Bauda and I have a discussion—Paul Vernier, the Protestant pastor, and...

ABOVE the village of Atuona was the hill of Calvary, as the French named the Catholic cemetery. Often in the late afternoon I went there to watch the sun go down behind the peak...

Monsieur l’Inspecteur des Etablissements Français de l’Océanie—How the School House was Inspected—I Receive My Congé—The Runaway Pigs—Mademoiselle Narbonne goes with Lutz to Pap...

IMAGINE my delight when the captain of the _Saint François_ set our course for Takaroa, the atoll of Mapuhi, Nohea, and the crippled diver who had possessed the great pearl of P...