318 MYSTIC ISLES 



A small boy with a gong handed me a bill on the rue du 

 Four, which read : 



Casino de Tahiti 



Ce Soir Vendredi 



Pour le championnat des Etablissements fran9ais de I'Oceanie 



Grand Match de Boxe Great Boxing Match Moto Raa rahi 



Entre MM. Between MM. i rotopu ia 



Opeta (Raratonga) & Teaea (Mataiea) 



10 Rounds 



Moni parahiraa Ire 2f. 50 2me 2f. 3me If. 50 



The bill said further in French and Tahitian that this 

 was to be the climax of all ring battles in the South Seas 

 between natives, the Christchurch Kid and Cowan, the 

 bridegroom, being liors concours. 



Every seat was reserved by noon. All day the auto- 

 mobile stages ran into the country districts to bring 

 natives, and from Moorea came boat-loads of spectators. 

 On the streets native youths emulated the combatants, 

 and at every corner boys were at fisticuffs. The Casino 

 de Tahiti was on the rue de Rivoli, a large wooden shed 

 painted in polychromatic tints, and with a gallery open 

 to the air for the band, which played an hour before all 

 events to summon patrons. Groups were in the street 

 by eight o'clock, many having been unable to buy seats, 

 and others there merely to hear the music and to laugh. 

 Many were Chinese, queueless, smartly dressed in con- 

 ventional white suits and American straw hats. The 

 storekeepers had come in from the country. The men 

 heatedly discussed the merits of the boxers. Opeta of 

 Raratonga was mentioned as the champion of the world 

 — this part of it. 



