THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
Photo by Harrison W. Smith 
SPEARING PRAWNS, WHICH ARE LARGE AND PLENTIFUL IN THE STREAMS OF TAHITI 
an American who has lived for several 
years in Tahiti. Pineapple plants are 
seen in the foreground, young cocoanut 
trees on each side, and in the center a 
large cluster of the Samoan banana. It 
will be noticed that the tree is unusually 
short, but the fruit is large and of par- 
ticularly fine flavor. 
The man shown on page 958 is a fisher- 
man who took the writer in his canoe to 
see the wonders of the coral reef, per- 
haps the most novel sight for the traveler 
in tropical islands. Early in the morning, 
after the land breeze has died away and 
before the sea breeze has ruffled the sur- 
face of the water over the shoal parts 
of the reef, the spectacle of brilliant- 
colored fish and of strange forms of 
coral is one of fascinating interest. 
A mass of coral, photographed through 
the water, is shown on page 960. Near 
the center appear some fine white lines; 
these are the upper edges, bright yellow 
in color, of coral of delicate structure 
that grows in thin vertical walls. Di- 
rectly below is seen a coarser, fan-shaped 
growth rising from the rough bottom by 
a thick stem. On page 959 are other 
forms growing on a large rock. In the 
deep water at the top and left of this 
picture may be noticed the effect of small 
waves in focusing the sunlight into bright 
bands on the bottom, while the same 
cause has produced a slight distortion in 
the image of the growing coral on the 
top of the rock. 
From the wharves at Papeete may be 
seen Morea island, about 10 miles dis- 
tant. There are few bays more beauti- 
ful than that of Oponohu, in this island, 
with the mountain Mauaroa rising 2,900 
feet above the sea (page 961). 
