56 MYSTIC ISLES 



tourist staying a day with a steamship to or from New 

 Zealand or the United States; but to the resident of 

 Tahiti, the American, Britisher, or non-Latin Euro- 

 pean, the place of interest in Papeete other than the 

 clubs was a small porch approached from the street by 

 a few steps. 



On this tiny porch was a large table, and behind it a 

 couch. The table was the only desk for letter-writing, 

 the serving-stand for meals, the board for salad and 

 cake-making, and the drink-bar. A few feet removed 

 from this table, and against the wall, was a camphor- 

 wood chest on which two might sit in comfort and three 

 might squeeze at angles. In the chest was kept all the 

 bed and table linen, so that one might often be disturbed 

 by the quest of sheets or napkins. 



Upon this little porch the kitchen, bath, and toilets 

 opened, a few feet from the table. It was the sleeping 

 and amusement quarters of five dogs, the loafing place 

 for the girls, the office of the hotel, the entiy for guests 

 to the dining-room or to the other conveniences. 

 Through it streamed all who came to eat or drink or for 

 any other purpose. The hotel having gi'own slowly 

 from a home, hardly any changes of plumbing had been 

 made, and men and women in dressing-gowns, in pa- 

 jamas, or in other undress came and went, under the 

 interested gaze of idlers and drinkers, and they had 

 often to endure intimate questions or badinage. All 

 were on a footing as to the arrangements, and I 

 saw the haughty duchess of the Noa-Noa follow Lo- 

 vaina's American negro chauffeur, while a former am- 

 bassador waited on the chest. There was no distinction 

 of rank, since Tahiti, excepting for an occasional 



