THE DREAM SHIP 



45 



THE UPA UPA, ONE OE THE FAMOUS NATIVE DANCES OE THE SOCIETY ISLANDS 



Papeete, the principal settlement of the Society Islands, is the metropolis of the south- 

 eastern Pacific, just as Honolulu is of the northeastern. It attracts as \aried an assortment 

 of humanity as any port in the world. 



the ordinary blisters, or half pearls, with 

 various foundations. You see, the ces- 

 tode — " 



• But I cannot hope to set down here all 

 that this amazing man told me in scien- 

 tific jargon, as he strode back and forth 

 across his mat-strewn floor. 



He was a doctor by profession, had 

 tired of it, and had come to the islands 

 to pursue his hobby of pearl culture. He 

 takes an oyster from the lagoon, opens it 

 very carefully by the slow insertion of a 

 wooden wedge, and places a pilule of 

 beeswax against the main muscle. The 

 mantle of the oyster then covers it with 

 mother-of-pearl, and in the course of a 



few months our friend cuts from the 

 shell a very fair imitation of a half pearl. 



But, as most people are aware, the real 

 pearl comes from the flesh of the oyster, 

 and it is on the production of the genuine 

 article that Air. Mumpus centers his ef- 

 forts. He breeds oysters in the lagoon 

 and dissects them under, the microscope 

 for signs of the parasite that undoubtedly 

 causes the pearl. He injects into the 

 flesh of others all manner of foreign 

 matter. 



Down there on his speck of an atoll he 

 treats the oyster as a surgeon treats an 

 interesting case and, who knows? some 

 day there may hurst upon an astonished 



