an J> + i the remory of T7m. Bligh, who rose to distinction and became 

 an admiral in the British navy, that the mutiny on his ship was no fault of 

 nxs rule but was the outcome of relations established between members of the 

 crew and the women of the enchanted isle of Otaheite, an attraction that seems 



llr^Z e 'tT 7l h ° f ^ S f ° rCe SinCe the d ^ that Cook sa i led irto the 

 lagoon - harbor of Papeete I 



Several friends have asked me whether the descriptions of tropical 

 scenery and of tropical life • human, floral and feral - that one reads as 

 part of the voluminous literature of Polynesia, are not largely figments of 

 the literary pagination? To this I answer; "generally speaking, no; but 

 Zt^fu^^l yeS - After all > the verd ^t depends upon the individual. 

 IZtr-t Tif s ™°nly the beauty and the romance that is Oceania, while 



1^7 S \ ? rw g ^ ldentical itinerary see little that is satisfactory and 

 iearn., only that Polynesian man is vile. Some are convinced that on these 

 tropical islands every prospect pleases" and that only the human element is 

 atol^\°v? ' ^° + ^ rarivise » there are those who fi*d all jungles and all 

 atolls alike and that only the aboriginal or the "introduced" beach-comber is 

 rlr-l* J!t t + ? Probability the truth lies mid-way. In any event I feel 

 in a count™ ^\ UnPr T^ Ced observer *«* alwa y* discover a continued charm 

 i^LT f 7 * \V 7h ° lly neT7 > remarkably varied as one travels from one 

 island group to another and full of natural history ^ TO nders. Possibly the 



mav a^L r^ XPti ° + nS ' that 1 ^° tted dOTn in notebook from time to tZe 

 may appear to be sentxmental exaggerations and worthy of being classed with 



^Vat ifasT 5 f S ° Uth " fakirS '" bUt ~* at the of obler^a- 



wheS E \ 7 ^r??? 1 " ° ne evenin S> half a * W before sunset," 



i e ^* a " d +1 + - ^ he deck of our stea * er then lying in the Papeete lagoon, 

 Soorea the ttTt X ?n to , the /^ tha * the two large islands, Tahiti and 6 ' 

 tZ t^«t \ * ° mil6S distant > a re admirably situated for displaying 



o^alion BetwSn 1 Jn^W tr ° Pi ° al SUnSet ' Jnd S ° « ? r0 - d °* that" 

 u f m J *f 1S 3 ands ' in th * roadstead, is a toy islet, with its 



iZt after lit no I tr f 6S ' that d ° eS duty aS a Wantina station. Some- 



art lafSilr ? m ° Un ^ n peaks o£ Ko °rea obscured the setting sun, the weird 

 seem to IZZT PS** 1 lighted by solfr steamers that 



trS horizon f / + C ,° S \ f : 0ffi the SiSter island * As the sun sank ° el °w the 

 iSround^s o t ° f tr ° piCal GVenin S deepened into night all our 



ITZ ^ " ' Sk¥ > mountains and islet - became the scene of fairy- 



ed tv lte e d?stan? 1 h% 6 ° 1Or l tranSf0rmatiOnS that Chan S ed eVer y minute, punctuat- 

 coo^wntffs* of ,1 Ut /f gular roar of the leakers on the barrier reef'and the 

 niStfaU In mott of +t ^Tu ^ bre8Ze ° ne ^ With ^iAe^e look for at 

 sunsets llllZrt I + SOuth f rn topics. We agreed that we had seen as lovely 

 sunsets elsewhere, but none with such a remarkable environment. 



I wiJSV 3 ^ n ! te:_ ^ St MgUst < at the end of the Southern winter) 

 and foV that'™ n yUn *"* the ^autiful Fruit Pigeons of Fiji 



volcfSc XlanT P + T + ' ";i iVe ° Utter b ° Und f ° r K * nd *™> a mountainous 

 WiS: Sing t&TrfSK* ° f Viti in the a « 



