OF THE SOUTH SEAS 41 



The French, when once they had seized the island, made 

 roads, gradually and not too well, but far surpassing 

 those of most outlying possessions, and contrasting ad- 

 vantageously with the neglect of the Spanish, who in 

 three hundred j^ears in the Philippines left all undone 

 the most important step in civilization. One can drive 

 almost completely around Tahiti on ninety miles of a 

 highway passable at most times of the year, and bridg- 

 ing a hundred times the streams which rush and purl 

 and wind from the heights to the ocean. 



The streets of Papeete have no plan. They go where 

 they list and in curves and angles, and only once in a 

 mile in short, straight stretches. They twist and stray 

 north and south and nor'nor'west and eastsou'east, as if 

 each new-comer had cleft a walk of his own, caring 

 naught for any one else, and further dwellers had 

 smoothed it on for themselves. 



I lost myself in a maze of streets, looked about for 

 a familiar landmark, strolled a hundred paces, and 

 found myself somewhere I thought a kilometer distant. 

 Everywhere there are shops kept by Chinese, restau- 

 rants and coffee-houses. The streets all have names, 

 but change them as they progress, honoring some 

 French hero or statesman for a block or two, recalling 

 some event, or plainly stating the reason for their be- 

 ing. All names are in French, of course, and many 

 are quaint and sonorous. 



As the sea-wall grew according to the demands of 

 defense or commerce the sections were rechristened. 

 The quai des Subsistances tells its purpose as does the 

 quai de I'Uranie. The rue de I'Ecole and the rue de 



