x * " WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1920. - "THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG ee -- - Copyright, 1920, by The Century Company; published by special arrangement with The McClure Newspaper Syndicate. White Shadows In. The Sout 'By FREDERICK O'BRIEN - \ % h Seas ¢ As we approached Hiva-oa the t height of Temetiu slowly lifted thousand feet above the sea, swathed in blackest clouds. Below, le-black valleys came one by one Be view, murky caverns of dauk vegetation. Towering precipices, seamed and riven, rose above the vast welter of gray seas. Slowly we crept into the wide Bay of Traitors and felt our way ints the anchorage of Taha-Uka, a long and narrow passage between frowning cliffs, spray-dashed walls of granite lashed fiercely by the sea. All along the /bluffs were cocoanut-palms, mag- nificent, waving their green fronds in the breeze. Darker green, the moun- rg ioweret above them, and far on r slopes we saw goats leaping from erag to crag and wild horses in the upper valleys. Moder BB oh Bg Rug m ghts, an through the binoculars I saw them to They were like silver in the wind, and when brought nearer by the glasses, I saw that some of them were heavy tor- rents, while others, gauzy as wisps of chiffon, hardly veiled the black walls behind them. Teh whole island dripped. The air was saturated, the decks were wet, and among the shelves of basalt that tted from the cliffs a hunderd-blow- oles spouted and roared. In ages of endeavor the ocean had made chambers in the rock. and cut 'pas- | sages to the top, through which, at every surge of the pounding waves, the watér rushed and rose high in the air. . Iron-bound, the mariner calls this coast, and the word makes one see the powerful, severe mold of it. Molten rock fused in subterranean fires and cast above the sea cooled into these ominous ridges and stern unyielding wolls. ' There upo the deck I determined not to leave until I had lived for a « time amid these wild scenes. My in- tention had been to voyage with the Star, returning, with her to « Tahiti, but a mysterious voice called to me from the dusky valleys. I could not leave without penetrating into those abrupt and melancholy depths of forest without endeavoring, though so feebly, to stir the cold brew of legend and tale fast disappearing in stupor and forgetfulness. Lying Bill protested volubly; he company and would regret my contribution to the "expense account. Gedge joined him in serious opposi- tion to the plan, urging that I would not be able to find a place to live, that there was no hotel, club, lodging or food for a stranger. But I was de- te to stay, though I must sleep under a breadfruit-tree. As I Was a mere rogmer, with no calendar or even a watch, I had but to fetch 4 few belongings ashore find be a arquesan. ose ongings gathered together, and finding me ob- rate, Lying Bill reluctantly agreed to set them on beach. : On either side of Taha-Uka inlet are landing-places, one in front of a store, the other leading only to the forest. These are stairways cut in lay not available for traffic, but around a shoulder of the bluffs was hidden the tiny bay of Atuona, where goods could be landed. While we discussed this, around jutting rocks shot a small out- rigger Sane, frail and hardly large enough to he ® of a slender boy who led it. About his he wore 2 red and yellow paren, and his naked body like Har iibal ? ] L Jit g & 3 : 2 | 2 : ga I | ii ok i EF il i : ih i i H if i til fit i il iis | Br Valley. It lay before a long and Barrow strech of sand beh ind, a oaming anc heavy surf; beyond, a few scattered wooden buildings among op d banhian-trees, and above, the rillbed gaunt mountains shutting in a deep and gloomy ravine. It was a lonely) beautiful place, omin- ous, melancholy) yet majestic... "Bloody Hiva-0a," this island wes called. . Long after the' Frenc subdued by terror the other isfes of the group, Hiva-oa remained ¢bdur- ate, separate, and untamed. was the last stro. ehold .f brutishnebs, of cruel chiefs and fierce feuls, of prim- itive and terrible customs. And of the man-eating isle of Hiva-oa. Atuona French. He said that he had come .n their interest; that he would not cheat them or betray them; that he would make them well if they were sick. The French flag was their flag. the French ple loved them. The Marquesans listened without interest, as if hé spoke of some one in Tibet who wanted to sell a green elephant. In the South Seas a meeting out-of- doors means a dance. The non ians have ever made this universal man expression of the rhythmic Valley was the capital. We landed on the beach dry-shod, rinciple of motion the chief evidence of emotion and particular] « of elation. I1.--At Home In | bodies were lithe and graceful. flowed the dance was resumed. The wicked Song, 'The Cannibal Isles. The Marquesas, peopled by a once cannibalistic race of Caucasian descent, 3 whose term of punish- women began a spirited danse du ven- ment for distributing brandy seemed tre. Their eyes now sparkled, their e- Henry rushed on to the lawn and tak- ing his place among them copied their motions in anties that set them roar- ing with the hearty roars of the eon- querors. They tried to continue the dance, but could not for merriment. One of the dancers advanced toward the veranda and in & ceremonious way kissed the governor upon the lips. That young executive was much sur- prised, but returned the saluté ani i a q d her tiny waist/ The Marquesans have no kisses in their native love making, but smell one or rub noses, as do the Eskimo. Whites, however, have taught kisses in all their variety. The governor had the girl drink a glass of champagne, She was per- haps 16 years old, a ¢harming girl, smiling, simple and lovely. Her skin, like that of all Marquesans, was olive, not brown like the Hawaiians' or yel- low like the Chinese, but like that of whites grown dark in the sun. She had black, streaming hair, sloe eyes, and an arch expression. Her manner was artlessly ingratiating, and her sweetness of disposition was not marked by hauteur. When I noticed that her arm was tatooed, she slipped off her dress and sat naked to the waist to chow all her adornment. There was an inscription of three lines stretching from her shoulder to her wrist, the letters nearly an inth in length, crowded together in care- less inartistry, The legend wus as follows: Tehizkoana Teikimoeatipanie Pahaka vii Anipoenuimatilaili Tetuatonoeinuhapaliilii" These wer> the names given her at birth, and tatooed in her childhood. A Marquesan Home on a Paepae. through the skill of the boat-steerer and the strength of the Tahitian sail- ors, who carried us through the surf and set my luggage among the thick green vines that met the tide. We were dressed to call upon tle gov- erngr, wl.ose inauguration was to take place that afternoon, and leaving my belongings in care of the faithful Ex- ploding Eggs, we set off up the valley. The rough road, seven or eight feet wide, was raised on rocks above the jungle and was bordered by giant anana plants and cocoanuts. At this season all was swamp below us, the orchard palms standing many - feet deep in water and mud, but their long green fronds and the darker tangle of wild growth on the steep mountain- sides were beautiful. The government house was set half a mile farther on in the narrowing ravine. It was a wooden house of four of five rooms, with an ample veran- dah surrounded-by an acre of ground in, The sward was the bril- Hantly~ green, luxuriant wild growth that In these lands covers every foot of earth surface. Cocoanuts and Mango-trees rose from this volunteer lawn, and under them a dozen rose- bushes, thick with excessively frag- Laut bloom. Pineapples ainst On the spontaneaus verdure before the veranda three score Marquesans Stood or squatted, the men in shirts | and overalls and the women in tunies. Their skins, not brown nor red nor yellow, but tawny lke that of the white man deeply" tanned by the sum, reminded me again that these may trace back their Caucasian cradle. The hair of the Women was adorned with gay flowers = he lamvss 'of the Suse Ry eir le garments gorgeous colors'cl to their straight, rounded bodies, their dark eyes were soft and full of t as the eyes of deer, and their fi , clean-cut and severe, : | if Hil § ix SEE i fii Ht Ef fri ii ; Hi i Ho eiik | the |; € Idling Away the Sunny Hours. . Civilization has all but stifled it in many islands. Christianity has made it a sin. It dies hard, for it is the basic outlet of strong natural feeling, and the great group entertainment of these peoples. "Mon dieu!" he replied. "It is the 'Folies Bergere' over again. Give them wine!" Bauda ordered Flag, the aus of tae Nighttn: le, a er, of Bordeaux wine oN : two they circulated Marquesan had : f it § PL » 5 i ; BF £ Hi i ; : i fe gat i 8 : E i : g iH f i § i Jie H it p | i 8 E E te § sifeg "~ Lith ; if z curiously suited to his crime. At midnight I accompanied a happy governor to his palace, which had one spare: bedroom, sketchily / furnished. During the pight the slats of my bed gave way with a dreadful din, and I woke to find the governor in pajamas of rose-colored silk, with _ pistol in hand, shedding electric rays upon me from a 'battery lamp. There was anxiety in his manner as he said: "You never can tell, A chief's son tried to kill my predecessor. I do not know these Marquesans. We are few whites here. And, mon dieu! the r- dian of the palace is himself a native!" * * *® * » It was necessary to find at once a residence for my contemplated stay in Atuona, for the schooner sailed on the morrow, and my brief glimpse of the Marquesans had whetted my desire to live among them. I would not accept the courteous invitation «f the gov- ernor to stay at the palace, for offi- cialdom never knows its surroundings and grandeur makes for no confidence from the lowly. Lam Kai Qo, an aged Chinaman, whom I encountered at the trader's store, came eagerly to my rescue with an offered lease of his deserted store and bakeshop. From Canton he had been brought in his youth by the labor bosses of western America to help build the transcontinental rail- way, and later another agency had set him down in Taha-Uka to grow cotton for John Ha:t. He saw the destruc- tion of that plantation, escaped the plague of opium, and with his scant savings made himself a petty mer- chant in Atuona. . Now he was old and had retired up the valley to the beside his corpa furnace and his 0 ome he had long established there |bed tan parallels. The glow of a pi and the solace of tobacco aided the i rhythm of the JE Bhets in dispelling | h the ghosts of the gloom, but never shipwrecked mariner greeted the dawn with greater joy than I. On the beach an hour later I met Gedge, who asked me with a quizzical eye iy I had enjoyed my first might among the Kanakas. I replied that I had seldom passed such a night, spoke glowingly of the forest and the stream, and said that I was still de- termnied to stay ind when the schooner sailed. "Well, if you will stay," 'said he, and the trader's k came int) his eye, "I've got just the thing you want. You don't want to lie on a mat where the thousand-legs can a you--and if they get you, you die. You want to live right,' Now listen to me; I got the best brass bed ever a, king slept on: Fellow was going to be married that I bought it for, but now he's lying up there in Calvary in a bed they dug for him. I'll let you have it cheap--three hundred france. It's worth double. What do yougay 1" A brass bed, a golden bed in the cannibal isles. "It's a go," I said. On the deck of the Morning Star I beheld the JEiingente brought up from the hold, and my new purchase with all its Jota and appurtenances loaded in a ship's boat, with the iron box that held my gold. So I arrived in Atupna for the second time, high astride the sewed-up mattress top of the metal parts. Julie Our arrival was watched:D¥ a seote of Marquesan chiefs who had been 'summoned by Bauda for the purpose, as he told me, of being urg: to thrash the tax-tree more vigorously. The meeting adjourned instantly, and Hey hurried down from the frame building that housed the government offices. Their curiosity could not be restrained. A score of eager hands stripped the coverings from the brass , and exposed the glittering head and. foot pieces in the brilliant sun- (££ The PubMc Dance Heart of Jesus. iii) i ih gE § i) ! i iid] i i E : § fi fu i 1 i il BE fro: ? : § i fr i i i Eg i EF 5 Fits il Ta i i i & al fi oo i 1 : E gE : g : I : E £ J B a g 3 i ¥ 2 BF § i: £ 5 i § gg ul i vi fy in the Garden, ed fib . | erooned of "{fore the white at once. : = Lam Kai Oo wailed his loss of & tenant b ) "You savee thlat house belong lep,®. he a ; rgued earnestly. "My sto' but 1 fram. you J thiat > fi toe dlop, eo A in pantomin. the 'rave His appeal was in vain. The . Bed, upraised on the shoulders of oe ts Ee Re Cll 10, 8 f of ciously waited oding. i puffed up with importance, a on all sides with respect sa Tuchi Oi Kiki, Keeper of the Golden Bed, Jostled for position by A; y of women, Behind them up the Nuh road hastened the rest of eager to kee the installation of marvel in its new quarters, and I £ lowed Ahe ba: c procession leise urely. My Golden Bed, precari- ously in the ni path, led through tangled jingle growth to the { first sight of my new home, a . house painted bright blue and roofed with corrigated iron. Set in midst of the forest, it was from the ground on a paepae, a platform made of basalt stones, . Snooth and Die, She ary flesh arquesas Islan very ; built by. a native since their time began has been set on a pae| mine had been erected in ; the memory of any Hing man. was fifty feet broad as 3 mised eight oe from the which was re y worn steps. Forigii the : Suall blue-walled house" e rocky peak of Temetiu rose .steep~ ly, four thousand feet into the air, its lower reaches clothed in Jungle-vinesy a and trees, its sumimit dark greem when the ps under a clear sky, but black sun was hidden. Beside the house the riv.r brawled through a fee WOGH of b cocoanut, vi-apple, mi trees. The tropiosishe 7 their leaves a drowsy woodland odor which filled the two small whites washed Toons, and the shadows of the trees, ng throug! e un- glassed windows, made a sun-flecked pattern on the black stone floor. This was the House of Lepers, now ye christened the House of the Golden through the unknown days before me. The next day I watched the Mormn- ing Star lift her sails and move slow ly out of the Bay of Traitors into open sea, with less regret than J have ever felt in that moment of ness hich h atbonds the i + a sailing p. Exploding Eggs, my side, read correctly my ret: eyes. "Kaoha!" he said, with a smile of welcome, and th him d Vai, my next-door nei: A v turned gladly to my pae Vai, or in English, Water, youth of twenty years ordinary occasions nak fie areu about his loins, Sundays or when courting, in the gayest of European el lived near me in a small house river bank with his mother and All were of a long line of chiefs, & all marvelously 1 and handsome. The mother, Titihuti, would have been beloved of the ancient who might have drawn her for Amazon. I have never seem woman of such rb eal hair was blood-red, her brow ; and an _inqesetibab ls air and nride spoke eloquen descent from fathers and mothers power. X 1 x Hill [15 4 his foretather's deeds