TAHITI: THE PLAYGROUND OF NATURE 



317 



THE OUEEN S BATH, 



Photograph by L. Gauthier, © Paul Gooding 

 PAPEETE I TAHITI 



Poor Queen Pomare, last of Tahiti's recognized royal line, lived simply and wanted only 

 a palace. True, she had one, the Aorai, meaning "cloud of Heaven": but that Tahitian 

 Potsdam, despite its name, was only a modest bungalow, which might have been taken for a 

 missionary's cottage. Its furnishings were equally plain, made more so in contrast to its one 

 ornament, a portrait of the dusky Queen, said to have been presented to her by Louis 

 Philippe, who had it done from a photograph sent him by a French officer. 



