352 MYSTIC ISLES 



"There is plenty more in the kitchen," we say to 

 guests out of hospitahty and pride, though the kitchen 

 is as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard. She could 

 not lie to the dog. 



Now, to the native who saw all around him on the 

 ship huge masses of the material most precious to him 

 in the world, it was as if an American in Yucatan saw in 

 a native hut heaps of gold and diamonds not valued by 

 the savage. Suppose the savage left the American 

 alone with the treasure ! 



But the Tahitians did not murder for blood lust, had 

 no assassination, and virtually no theft. Our own 

 Anglo-Saxon law laid down the maxim, "Caveat emp- 

 tor!" "Let the buyer beware!" which meant that the 

 truth notwithstanding, the buyer must not let the seller 

 of anj^thing cheat him by failure to state the exact 

 facts or faults, and expect the law to remedy his stupid- 

 ity. 



Chief Tetuanui's word was his bond because he had 

 learned that square-dealing brought him peace of mind, 

 but other natives had found out that to cheat the white 

 man first was the only possible way of keeping even with 

 him. The maxim of the king of Apamama, quoted bj'' 

 Ivan Stroganoff, was pertinent. Hospitality was as 

 sacred to the Tahitians as to the old Irish. It was 

 shameful not to give a guest anything he desired. 



"Es su casa, senor!" said the Spaniard, and did not 

 mean it; but the Tahitians literally did mean that the 

 visitor was welcome to all his valuables, and did not re- 

 serve his family, as did the don. 



The chevalier of the Legion of Honor upon whose 



