346 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
On the dock there was a dense crowd to see the motion picture 
people off. Chinese women in black silk trousers and sack-like 
coats were carrying little babies, and the motion picture camera 
was ‘‘shooting’’ the crowd and embarking company. There 
were many good-byes and some tears, for these invaders from 
America had spent several months and much money in Tahiti. 
We sailed out of the lovely harbor of Papeete at five P.M. to 
begin the last and longest leg of our voyage, three thousand 
six hundred miles to San Francisco. 
August 25 we slept well with a cool breeze in our stateroom. 
I had been anxious about the tuataras fearing their sudden in- 
troduction into the tropical heat from the winter cold of New 
Zealand, but they all seemed all right and they appeared to en- 
joy the voyage in an undemonstrative way, particularly appre- 
ciating the frequent douches of cold water administered by the 
butcher who was determined to do his duty by them. 
Stoner was not allowed to go ashore at Tahiti, but saw what 
he could from the ship’s deck and visited the island vicariously 
through his wife who saw a great deal and got a number of 
photographs and other mementos. 
August 25 was the first rainy day of the voyage which was 
then just half over. There were two men on board bound for 
the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minn. The nurse finding that I 
had been there, asked me to do what I could to cheer them up 
a bit. 
Our wireless received reports from the world every day and 
we found a copy of the mimeographed miniature newspaper at 
our place each morning at breakfast. The news of a great rail- 
road strike was disquieting. 
As we neared the Equator there were more living things to be 
seen at sea. Small schools of flying fish rose from the ship’s 
bows every now and then, pursued their dipping flight for a 
hundred yards or so and plunged back into the blue. A shark 
and some dolphins were seen. We crossed the line again about 
8:15 in the morning of August 27 and felt that being again in 
our proper northern hemisphere we were nearing home; we 
greeted the North Star as an old and valued friend. Stoner and 
the tuataras were doing well. The latter were probably the most 
distinguished passengers on board the Tahiti. Many people 
asked permission to visit them in their quarters on the lower 
deck near the butcher’s stateroom. They were more lively as 
