OF THE SOUTH SEAS 85 



journalist might soon find himself in prison. You can 

 do nothing. The fault is in this damned climate — la 

 fievre du corail. Paul Deschanel, senator of France, 

 who wrote a book on this island without ever leaving his 

 chair in Paris, says : 



"In presence of the apparent facts one is forced to ask him- 

 self if there is not in the climate of this enchanted Tahiti, in 

 the? soft air that one breathes, a force sweet but invincible which 

 at length penetrates the soul, enervates the will and enfeebles 

 all sense of usefulness or right, or the least energy necessary 

 to make them triumph. 



"It is this spirit, without any harmony, bereft of all real 

 cordiality between neighbors, of family and family, which one 

 must find in the ambient air and which is called the coral 

 fever." 



"It torments these French, former sailors or petty 

 officials gone into trade or speculation, with delusions 

 and ambitions of grandeur. There is no remedy. The 

 King of Apamama said it all when he divided the whites 

 into three classes, 'First, him cheat a litty; second, him 

 cheat plenty; and third, him cheat too much.' " 



Stroganoff got on his feet, rubbed his knees to limber 

 them, and began to move off slowly toward Fa'a, his 

 place of abode. 



"But, Mr. Stroganoff," I called to him, "you said all 

 that about the Tahitians, also." 



The Russian octogenarian drew an over-ripe mango 

 from his skirt, and bit into it, with dire results to his 

 whiskers and coat, — it should be eaten only in a bathtub, 

 — and replied wearily : 



"I except nobody here." 



