OF THE SOUTH SEAS 129 



It was proposed at the Cercle Bougainville that we 

 have a series of jaunts to points some distance away. I 

 was promised that I would see fully the way my ac- 

 quaintances enjoyed themselves in the open. Llewellyn 

 was given charge of the first excursion. It was to 

 Moorea, an island a dozen miles or so to the northwest 

 from Papeete, and which, with Tetiaria and Mehetia and 

 Tahiti, constitute les ties de Vent, or Windward Islands 

 of the Society archipelago. 



In clear weather one cannot look out to sea from 

 Papeete, to the north or west, without Moorea's weird 

 grandeur confronting one. The island of fairy-folk 

 with golden hair, it was called in ancient days by the peo- 

 ple of other islands. A third of the size of Tahiti, it was, 

 until the white man came, the abode of a romantic and 

 gallant clan. Eimeo, it was called by the first whites, 

 but the name of Moorea clings to it now. Over it and 

 behind it sets the sun of Papeete, and it is associated with 

 the tribal conflicts, the religion, and the journeys of the 

 Tahitians. Now it is tributary to this island in every 

 way, and small boats run to and from with passengers 

 and freight almost daily. 



We met at seven o'clock of a Saturday morning at the 

 point on the coral embankment where the Potii Moorea 

 was made fast, the gasolene-propelled cargo-boat which 

 we had rented for the voyage. A hundred were gathered 

 about a band of musicians in full swing when I appeared 

 at the rendezvous on the prick of the hour. The bands- 

 men, all natives but one, wore garlands of purau, the 

 scarlet hibiscus, and there was an atmosphere of aban- 

 donment to pleasure about them and the party. 



A schooner swung at her moorings near by, under a 



