80 MYSTIC ISLES 



you. I should have said first of all that he is lazy, but 

 that is not to be disputed. He was corrupt to begin 

 with, and religion accentuates every evil passion in him. 

 He is a profound hypocrite, and yet a puritan for ob- 

 servance of the ceremonies and interdictions of his faith. 

 He has more guile than a Japanese guide, and in land 

 deals can skin a Moscow Jew. He will sell you land 

 and get the money, and later prove that his father or 

 brother is the real owner, and that relation will do the 

 same, and you will pay several times for the same land. 

 In the Paumotus, where the missionaries are like a 

 swarm of gnats, this deception is threefold as bad." 



"But the Tahitians are at least generous," I broke in. 



Stroganoff combed his whiskers with a twig of the 

 flamboyant tree under which we .sat. He glared at me. 



"Generous! If you have money they will overwhelm 

 you with presents, looking for a double return; but if 

 you are poor, they will treat you as dirt under their 

 feet. I know, for I am poor, and I live among them. 

 They are like those mina birds here, which will steal the 

 button off your coat if you do not guard it." 



"Does not Christianity improve them?" 



"No. The combats between Protestants, Catholics, 

 and Mormons ended all hope of that. They are never 

 sincere except when they become fanatics, and even then 

 they never lose their native superstitions. Beliefs in 

 the ghosts of Tahiti, the tupapau, ilwiho, and varua ino, 

 are common to all of them." 



"My dear Mr. Stroganoff," I expostulated, "your 

 czars believed in icons. My grandmother believed in 

 werewolves and banshees, and we burned blessed candles 

 and sprinkled holy water in our houses on All Souls' 



