332 MYSTIC ISLES 



with wreaths of maiden-hair and rare ferns from the 

 cavern. Great lianas hung down the walls, and these 

 they climbed to reach the exquisite draperies of the 

 chamber. The farther we left behind the capital, the 

 more smiling were the faces, the less conventional the 

 actions and gestures of the people. 



Papara was at hand, the richest and most famous of 

 all the districts of Tahiti. The village was a few 

 Chinese stores, a Catholic and a Protestant church, a 

 graveyard, and a scattered collection of homes. I bade 

 au revoir to my delightful companion, Edmond Brault, 

 having determined to walk the remaining kilometers, 

 and to send on my inconsiderable bag of clothing. 



Lovaina had given me a note to the chief of Papara, 

 Tati, whose father was Salmon, an English Jew, and 

 whose sister was Marao, the rehct of the late king, and 

 known as the queen. His father was the first white to 

 marry formally a Tahitian noblewoman. Pomare IV 

 had generously granted permission for the high chief ess 

 of Papara to ally herself with the shrewd descendant of 

 the House of David, and their progeny had included the 

 queen, Tati, and others celebrated in Tahitian life. 



Tati welcomed me with the heartiness of the English 

 gentleman and the courtesy of the Tahitian chief. He 

 was a man of large parts himself, limited in his hos- 

 pitality only by his means, he, like all natives, having 

 thrown away most of his patrimony in his youth. He 

 was the best-known Tahitian next to Prince Hinoe, but 

 much abler than he. He knew the Tahitian history and 

 legends, the interwoven tribal relations, the descents 

 and alliances of the families, better than any one else. 

 Such knowledge was highly esteemed by the natives, for 



