Photograph by John W. Church 



A PERI OP THP MAROUPSAN PARADISE 



To the Spaniards under Mendana, who discovered the Marquesas Islands in the sixteenth 

 century, the archipelago seemed an enchanted land of delight. According to tradition, a 

 number of Mendana's crew, enraptured by the beauty of the native women, fled to the hills 

 with a score of the most attractive maidens, and there they lived happily ever after. From 

 this adventure, so runs the legend, there sprang a tribe of beautiful red-haired women and 

 fierce warriors. Several native women and boys with rich auburn hair are to be found on one 

 of the islands today. 



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