878 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



BATHING IN THE VILLAGE STREAM. 



THE MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN TAHITI ARE THE MOST ADEPT SWIMMERS IN THE WORLD. THEY LEARN TO SWIM 

 AS CHILDREN AND SPEND MUCH OF THEIR TIME BATHING AND FISHING. 



girls and the bean-like pods cured by 

 hand by a delicate process requiring 

 several months. 



Diving for pearls and mother of 

 pearl shell is not carried on at Tahiti 

 but on neighboring atolls for which it is 

 the outfitting and trade center and the 

 diving season is one of great interest 

 and excitement. 



On the whole, however, industry has 

 small part in the daily life of the inhabi- 

 tants. Very little work suffices to pro- 

 cure all that is essential where nature 

 supplies food and shelter. The writer 

 once asked a native to bring him some 

 fish. "Why don't you catch your own 

 fish?" was the response. : 'That isn't 

 the question; I'll give you a dollar for a 

 good string of fish," was parried. The 

 answer to this was unanswerable and 

 final: "I don't need any dollar." Such 

 is island philosophy. The sea will al- 

 ways provide fish, the land all other 

 actual requisites, and since this will be 



as true in the future as today, why 

 trouble to lay up for one's children? 

 Even tobacco and coffee are home- 

 grown, so only imported luxuries require 

 effort to obtain. Most of the real work 

 of the island, such as curing vanilla, is 

 done by Chinese who value money for 

 its own sake. They bake the bread, 

 run the restaurants, and own most of 

 the small stores. 



Nevertheless the natives are splendid 

 people physically, no doubt an inherit- 

 ance from their warlike and athletic 

 past. The men are often well over six 

 feet and tremendously muscular. The 

 women are erect, graceful, beautifully 

 formed, and often very handsome. 

 Their brown eyes are unusually fine; 

 their black hair long and waving. 

 Polynesian races differ slightly in color, 

 that of pure Tahitians varying also 

 with caste and exposure, but the com- 

 monest type is an olive-gold not darker 

 in shade than the skins of Chinese and 





