CHAPTER XVIII 



The reef and the lagoon — "Wonders of marine life — Fishing with spears and 

 nets — Sponges and hermit crabs — Fish of many colors — Ancient canoes 

 of Tahiti — A visit to Vaihiria and legends told there. 



ABOUT a mile from the beach was the reef, on 

 which the breakers beat clamorously or almost 

 inaudibly, depending on the wind and the far- 

 away surge of the seas. The Passe of Rautirare af- 

 forded entrance for small vessels. It was an opening 

 in the wall about the island caused by the Vairahaha, the 

 stream which emptied into the lagoon at our door, and 

 the fresh waters of which had ages ago prevented the 

 coral zoophytes from building a structure there, as at 

 Papeete and all other passages. Fresh water did not 

 agree with these miraculous architects whose material 

 was their own skeletons. 



I went out toward the reef many mornings in a little 

 canoe that Tiura, the eldest son of the chief, loaned me. 

 I carried from the house a paddle and three harpoons 

 of different sizes. The canoe had an outrigger and was 

 very small, so that it moved fast through the usually 

 still lagoon, propelled by the broad-bladed paddle. In 

 the bottom of it might be an inch of water, for occasion- 

 ally I shipped a tiny wave, but wetness was no bother in 

 this delicious climate ; a pareu was easily removed if vex- 

 atious and a cocoanut-shell was an ample bale. 



Low tide was at sunrise, and warmed with my fruit 

 and coffee, and the happy ia ora na, Maru! of the fam- 



365 



