226 MYSTIC ISLES 



selves and asked no cultivation. Now, except for the 

 faint ti'ail, I was on primeval ground, from all appear- 

 ances. 



The canon grew narrower and darker. The unde- 

 fined path lay inches deep in water, and the levels were 

 shallow swamp. Nature was in vast luxuriance, in a 

 revel of aloofness from human beings, casting its wealth 

 of blazing colors and surprising shapes upon every side. 

 We slid down the edge of the hill to the burn, where the 

 massive boulders and shattered rocks were camouflaged 

 by the painting of moss and lichen, the ginger, turmeric, 

 caladium, and drac^ena, and by the overhanging palms 

 covered with the rich bird's-nest ferns. 



We sat again in this wild garden of the tropic to in- 

 vite our souls to drink the beauty and quietude, the ab- 

 sence of mankind and the nearness of nature. We be- 

 came very still, and soon heard the sounds of bird and 

 insect above the lower notes of the brawling stream. 



The princess put her finger on her lips and whispered 

 in my ear: 



"Do you hear the warbling of the omamao and the 

 otatare? They are our song-birds. They are in these 

 high valleys only, for the mina has frightened them from 

 below — the mina that came with the ugly Chinese." 



"Noanoa Tiare," said I, "you Tahitians are the birds 

 of paradise of the human family. You have been driven 

 from the rich valleys of your old life to hills of bare ex- 

 istence by the minas of commerce and politics. I feel 

 like apologizing for my civilization." 



She pressed my hand. 



''Taisez-vousr she replied, smihng. "Aita peapea. 

 I am always happy. Remember I still live in Tahiti, 



