336 MYSTIC ISLES 



lages more by the Chinese stores than by any other 

 feature. 



"You will find the Papara country full of oranges," 

 Fragrance of the Jasmine had said. 



The fruit was as sweet and delicious as any I had 

 eaten, and the trees larger than their parents of Sydney, 

 Australia. I strolled along the road eating, speaking 

 all who passed or were in sight within their gardens, and 

 came to Mataiea, where I was to live months and to 

 learn the Tahitian mind and language. 



Ariioehau Ameroearao, commonly known as Tetu- 

 anui Tavana, or Monsieur le Chef de Mataiea, Tetu- 

 anui, and his wife, Haamoura, were the salt of the 

 earth. The chief was a large man, molded on a great 

 frame, and very corpulent, as are most Polynesians of 

 more than thirty years. He was about sixty, strong and 

 sweet by nature, brave and simple. His vahine was 

 very stout, half blind from cataracts, but ever busied 

 about her household and her guests. As chief and road- 

 master of his district, Tetuanui received a small com- 

 pensation, but not enough for the wants of his depen- 

 dents, so a few paying white guests were sent to him by 

 Lovaina. The house was set back from the Broom 

 Road in a clearing of a wood of cocoanuts, breadfruits, 

 hadamiers, and i;i-apples. 'The father of Haamoura 

 had given the land to his daughter, and they had built 

 on it a residence of two high stories, with wide verandas. 



The chief and his wife had no children, but had 

 adopted twenty-five. They had brought most of these 

 to manhood and womanhood, and many were married. 

 Perhaps their care, dots for the daughters, and estates 

 for the sons, had made the parents poor. One was the 



