230 MYSTIC ISLES 



the moisture from her thick hair, and ran her fingers 

 through it until the strands were fairly separated. The 

 pareu disclosed the rounded contour of her figure as if 

 it were painted upon her. She was one of those ancient 

 Greek statues, those semi-nudes on which the artists 

 painted in vivid tints the blush of youth, the hue of hair, 

 and a shadow of a garment. She entranced me, and I 

 called out to her, "Nehenehe!" "Beautiful!" 



She ran to her boudoir behind the bird's-nest fern, 

 and soon returned in her tunic, still barefoot, and with 

 her pareu in her hand for drying on a rock. She 

 brought two wreaths now and put one upon me. We 

 resumed our couches upon the green sward, and the 

 princess laid the basket of fruit between us. 



"Maintenant pour le dejeuner!" she said. 



We ate the bananas fii'st, and then the pineapple, 

 which we cut with a sliver of basalt, — we were in the 

 stone age, as her tribe was when the whites came, — and 

 last the oranges. She made cups of leaves and filled 

 them with water, and into them we squeezed the limes 

 for a toast. 



"Inu i te ota no teT she said and lifted her cup. "A 

 health to you ! He who eats the fei passes under a spell ; 

 he must return again to the islands. Have you eaten 

 the feir 



"Not yet. Princess," I replied. 



"There thej^ are in abundance on the hillside," she 

 said. "Look! If we had fire, I would roast one for 

 you, but to-morrow will be another day." 



The fei, the mountain banana, the staple of the Ta- 

 hitian, was there aplenty. The plant or stalk was that 

 of the banana, but very dark at the base, and the leaves 



