468 MYSTIC ISLES 



screen above four feet of wainscot. The roof was lofty, 

 of plaited pandanus-leaves, with large spaces under the 

 eaves for the circulation of air; but the immediate sug- 

 gestion was of an aviary, a cage thirty feet square. 

 Attached to this room was a lean-to kitchen, and near by, 

 hidden behind the cage, was another native house for 

 sleeping. The aviaiy was the living- and dining-quar- 

 ters, protected from all insect pests, and an arbor cov- 

 ered with vines led to the water. 



Many canvases were about, on an easel an unfinished 

 group of three Tahitian boys, and a case of books against 

 the one solid wall. 



Half a dozen Tahitian youths were lolling outside in 

 the shade, and one, at the request of the host, led up the 

 horse and the boy who guarded it. The child skirted 

 the circumference of the monkey's swing, and then, a 

 few feet away, squatted to regard the animal with in- 

 tense surprise and interest. 



"Uritaata," he said; "I never saw one before, but I 

 have read in my school-book that they have those dog- 

 men in French colonies." 



Uri means dog and taata man, and the compound 

 name was that which sprang to the lips of the Tahitians 

 on seeing a monkey, just as they called the horse puaa 

 horo fenua, the pig that runs on the earth, and the goat, 

 horo niho, the pig with horns. The pig and the dog 

 were the only land mammals they knew before the white 

 arrived. The race-track near Papeete was puaa horo 

 fenua faa titi auraa. If a pig could talk, he would say 

 that man was a wickeder and stronger pig. Jehovah 

 has whiskers like a Rabbi. The Rabbis made him like 

 themselves. Man has no other ideal. 



