TAHITI 



877 



*-/tC 



f'^^s- 



One of the Rare Openings in the Forest. 



green slopes rise quickly behind the town of papeete to splintered volcanic peaks 

 nearly eight thousand feet high, carved by precipitous valleys with countless 

 flashing water falls. 



Copra, which is dried cocoanut meat 

 from which an oil is expressed that has 

 countless uses for soaps, cosmetics and 

 food-products, is the chief South Sea 

 commodity. Hundreds of islands have 

 practically no other trade. Indeed the 

 cocoanut has no rival among trees for 

 all round usefulness. Its fruit supplies 

 food, drink and money. It feeds pigs 

 and chickens with no labor beyond 

 splitting the fallen nuts. Its leaves 



furnish building material and sleeping 

 mats; the nut husks are excellent fuel. 

 Dominating the landscape by its indi- 

 viduality and grace, it appeals to the 

 forester as the king of trees. 



Vanilla, of which Tahiti furnishes per- 

 haps a third of the world's supply, is 

 also largely grown in the forest, the 

 vines climbing rooted and growing poles 

 in partial shade. The hermaphrodite 

 flowers are "married" bv deft native 



