CHAPTER XII 



The princess suggests a walk to the falls of Fautaua, where Loti went 

 with Rarahu — We start in the morning — The suburbs of Papeete — The 

 Pool of Loti — The birds, trees and plants — A swim in a pool — Arrival 

 at the cascade — Luncheon and a siesta — We climb the height — The 

 princess tells of Tahitian women — The Fashoda fright. 



THE falls of Fautaua, famed in Tahitian legend, 

 are exquisite in beauty and surrounding, and so 

 near Papeete that I walked to them and back in 

 a day. Yet hardly any one goes there. For those who 

 have visited them they remain a shrine of loveliness, 

 wondrous in form and unsurpassed in color. Before 

 the genius of Tahiti was smothered in the black and 

 white of modernism, the falls and the valley in which 

 they are, were the haunt of lovers who sought seclusion 

 for their pledgings. 



A princess accompanied me to them. She was not a 

 daughter of a king or queen, but she was near to royalty, 

 and herself as aristocratic in carriage and manner as 

 was Oberea, who loved Captain Cook. I danced with 

 her at a dinner given by a consul, and when I spoke to 

 her of Loti's visit to Fautaua with Rarahu, she said in 

 French : 



"Why do you not go there yourself with a Rarahu! 

 Loti is old and an admiral, and writes now of Egypt 

 and Turkey and places soiled by crowds of people, but 

 Rarahu is still here and young. Shall I find you her?" 



I looked at her and boldly said; 



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