TAHITI: A PLAYGROUND OF NATURE 



By Paul Gooding 



TAHITI lies far from the feverish 

 activities of modern industrial life. 

 It is more than 1,000 miles below 

 the Equator, in longitude about 150 de- 

 grees west; 3,000 miles from Australia, 

 3,600 miles from San Francisco, 4,500 

 miles from the Panama Canal, 6,000 

 miles from Asia. By old trade routes — 

 via the Suez Canal and Australia — it is 

 nearly as far from Xew York as all these 

 distances combined, but the Panama 

 Canal reduces this to 6,500 nautical miles, 

 thus effecting a saving of 10,000 miles. 



Ever since its discovery by Wallis in 

 1767, the Otaheite of early exploration 

 days — or King George the Third's Island, 

 as this navigator called it — has been 

 famed as an isolated jewel remarkable in 

 contour, rich in verdure, blest with a 

 pleasant, healthful climate, and inhabited 

 by friendly people of handsome physique. 

 The impressions of Wallis are those of 

 Bougainville and Cook and their concep- 

 tions are, in the main, those of the aver- 

 age visitor of today. 



Tahiti is an extraordinary work of 

 creation — a jagged, fertile cinder from 

 volcanic pits, perhaps, or a verdant frag- 

 ment of a sunken continent. It is indeed 

 a steepled gem of wondrous green within 

 a teeming coral ring. 



NATURE SPARED NO GIFTS IN ADORNING 

 TAHITI 



This captivating heart of Polynesia 

 presents abundant evidence that in its 

 adornment nature was in a liberal mood. 

 Here the eye is delighted by leafy luxuri- 

 ance stretching from palm-fringed beach 

 to loftiest mountain crest ; by the brilliant 

 colors of land and sea ; by the high phy- 

 sical standards of the natives, both men 

 and women. 



Here the ear is soothed by the wash 

 of an inner sea ; by the flow of gentle 

 streams or of boisterous mountain tor- 

 rents. Here the tired or distressed mind 

 is composed and renewed by lasting 

 quietude, and by the knowledge that 

 madly competitive centers are far away. 



Overshadowing all are the mountains. 

 In every colossal pile there is distinctive- 



ness. Here a mighty slab rises high 

 above a valley; there a peak with a tri- 

 angle summit shoots thousands of feet 

 upward ; beyond, lofty columns hundreds 

 of feet in thickness stand in solitary 

 grandeur; another turn and a shaft cuts 

 the sky with an edge like an enormous 

 knife — an edge to which tree, shrub, fern, 

 and vine cling tenaciously. 



As its indulgent climate might well sug- 

 gest, Tahiti is an amiable country. Along 

 all its shores one sees smiling, care-free 

 faces, bright, liquid eyes expressing con- 

 tentment and inviting confidence, and 

 generous hands outstretched in welcome. 

 Everywhere one hears musical voices 

 carrying notes of kindness and sympathy ; 

 daily the visitor is gladdened by the 

 gracious "Haere mai !" or the social 

 "Iorana !" 



AN ISLAND OE PRIMITIVE BUT NOT BAR- 

 BAROUS PEOPLE 



Tahiti is not an abode of savages. It 

 still has primitive life, but of barbarism 

 it has none. There life and property are 

 safe ; compulsory education quickens the 

 mind of the youthful; and the church, 

 the vernacular religious press, and contact 

 with the Caucasian broaden, in a limited 

 way, the intellect of the adult. 



I first saw the smiling Kingdom of 

 Pomare in a timorous dawn soon to be 

 emboldened by the streamers of a moun- 

 tain-hidden sun. In waters placid and 

 clear my steamer lay at anchor. Behind 

 it long lines of milk-white surf lashed 

 against coral barriers. 



To my right and to my left strangely 

 shaped mountains cleaved the sky, and 

 in their dense wooded depths flitted fan- 

 tastic outline of crag, peak, and preci- 

 pice. On a coral-strewn shore tall palms 

 flapped a lazy welcome. In the distance 

 rose the green spires of La Diademe. 

 Between them and the jutting reef. Pa- 

 peete^ drowsy capital and metropolis of 

 Tahiti and its far-flung dependencies, 

 gently rose and fell in a mirroring sea. 



As we anchored inside the reef, the sun 

 was on the point of surmounting its lofty 

 obstruction. Shafts of gold shot over 



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