462 MYSTIC ISLES 



added many francs to my bill by pouring me another 

 bottle of Pol Roger, 1905, which after several days of 

 cocoanut juice took on added delight. I made up my 

 mind to tarry with Butscher a day, while Tatini returned 

 to the Tetuanui mansion by diligence, and despatched 

 my bags to me by the same carrier. I sent with her my 

 love to the Tetuanui clan, and some delicacies from the 

 Maison des Varos for the half -blind Haamoura. The 

 diligence did not run farther than Taravao, and the next 

 day, with my impedimenta in the cart, and with a boy to 

 drive it, I turned my back on the road to Papeete, and 

 began the jog trot to the famous, but hardly ever visited, 

 district of Tautira. 



I counted it the third stage in my pilgrimage in Ta- 

 hiti. The first had been in and about the capital, min- 

 gling mostly with white men, and living in a public inn ; 

 the second at Mataiea had taken me far from those 

 rookeries, and had introduced me to the real Tahitians, 

 to their language, their customs, and their hearts; but 

 still I had been a guest, and a cared-for and guarded 

 white among aborigines. Now I wanted to cut off en- 

 tirely from the main road, to sequester myself in a far- 

 away spot, and to live as close to the native as was pos- 

 sible for me. My time was drawing near for departure. 

 I must see all of the Etablissements Francais de 

 rOceanie, the blazing Paumotu atolls, and the savage 

 Marquesas, and I must make the most of the several 

 months yet remaining for me in Tahiti. 



The highway along the eastern portion of the 

 Presqu'ile was much like that between Taravao and 

 Puforatoai, tortuous, constricted, and often forced to 



