OF THE SOUTH SEAS 475 



buildings and groves toward the mango copse of 

 T'yonni. On the bushes huge nets were drying, and 

 canoes were drawn up into the purau and pandanus 

 clumps. As the day advanced, the artless incidents of 

 the settlement aroused my interest. I saw about me 

 scenes and affairs which had caused a famous poet after 

 a week or two in this very lieu to write : 



Here found I all I had forecast: 



The long roll of the sapphire sea 



That keeps the land's virginity; 



The stalwart giants of the wood 



Laden with toys and flowers and food ; 



The precious forest pouring out 



To compass the whole town about ; 



The town itself with streets of lawn. 



Loved of the moon, blessed by the dawn, 



Where the brown cliildren all the day 



Keep up a ceaseless noise of play, 



Play in the sun, play in the rain, 



Nor ever quarrel or complain ; 



And late at night in the woods of fruit. 



Hark! do you hear the passing flute? 



The school-house was near to the master's home where 

 Choti lived, and often I heard the children learning by 

 singsong, the way I myself had been taught the arith- 

 metical tables. The teacher was Alfred, a Tahitian, 

 who, being a scholar, must have a French name, and 

 wear clothes and shoes when in his classes, but who very 

 sensibly sat with Choti upon his veranda in only his 

 pareu. Much of the time the pupils played in the 

 grounds, hopscotch and wrestling on stilts being favorite 

 games. Alfred regretted that the ancient Tahitian 



