198 MYSTIC ISLES 



and floor boards were eaten away by the ants, and in 

 one hole six or seven inches long this rat had entrance 

 to his den between the floor and the ceiling of the room 

 below. He had trading proclivities, and in exchange 

 brought me old and valueless trifles. I once knew a 

 miner in Arizona who found a rich gold-vein through 

 a rat bringing him a piece of ore in exchange for a bit 

 of bacon. He traced the rat to his nest and discovered 

 the source of the ore. The rats had their ancient ene- 

 mies to guard against, and the cats of Tahiti, not in- 

 digenous, slept by day and hunted by night. They 

 cavorted through the Annexe in the smallest hours, and 

 one often wakened to their shrieks and squeals of com- 

 bat. The tom-cats had tails longer than their bodies, 

 the climate, their habits and food developing them ex- 

 traordinarily. 



The roosters grew to a size unequaled, and those in 

 the garden of the Annexe roused me almost at dawn. 

 Their voices were horrific, and one that had fathered 

 a quartet of ducks — an angry tourist had killed the 

 drake because of his quacking — was a vrai Chantecler. 

 When he waked me, the sun was coming over the hills 

 from Hitiaa, brightened Papenoo and leaped the sum- 

 mits to Papeete, but it was long before the phantom of 

 false morning died and the god of day rode his golden 

 chariot to the sea. The Diadem was gilded first, and 

 down the beach the long light tremulously disclosed the 

 faint scarlet of the flamboyant-trees, their full, magnifi- 

 cent color yet to be revealed, and their elegant contours 

 hke those graceful, red-tiled pagodas on the journey to 

 Canton in far Cathay. 



Motu Uta crept from the obscurity of the night, and 



