Show letter from tahiti editor clipper there are four young men from davis county laboring among the natives in 1 n the heart of the south pacific endeavoring to teach tile the gospel of christ at pres ent they are working in the city of papette which is ia on tahiti president D T J miller and L 11 II kennard have been here well nigh a 2 year the atter alter having recently returned from Tu ft here lie he lias has been laboring for the past vine months E elder ider E T hatch and the writer arrived it in papette on the of last line jane and the major portion of the time sine fine have been in the queer little city of papette Pa peete this city is the headquarters for the latter day saint mission in the society islands at present there are eighty elders from utah living in this city studying ing the language and learning the babits lii bils of the people with a view to doing more effective work near the renter center which mitch has hitherto been an impregnable stronghold for protest pro test I 1 anisa slid and catholicism with ahil end in view the elders are occasionally pent out around this island distributing tribu tinor tracts ge tida in sympathy with tile people and studying tin the langua language gp little liale or no effort being made at present in public preace I 1 ing elder kennard and tile the writer have just returned from a two weeks trip around the island we have learned that the nati natives with a few exceptions are a sociable and hospitable people ith a 9 natural inclination to religion we met only two natives who were not followers of any ious ions persuasion we traveled after tile the manner of tile the true missionaries of christ not nol once did we ask for charity or entertainment tain ment yet the TahO ans eat no better belter food or ret on no better couches than we enjoyed altogether too loo many roasted shouts faili fi 41 plantains plant ains chickens were spread before us too many luscious oranges in manghes mangoes ingoe and young cocoanuts cocoa nuts grew along the roadside since we had poor control of our appetites which in this climate too seem to approach the unlimited in papette the natives nati vei many of them hive adopted tile the habits babits of tin lilt whites but bu as we left the city we noticed they lived largely in their native huts buts find and were fairly well pro pre served in deir d native customs the food was cook cooked edon on hot rocks covered sith leaves leaver aud and heaved by the nied men iu in the elegant of the Tahi Tabi lians the tables consisting g ot of young taro or banana leaves were spread upon the ground we ate ale with our fingers oftentimes from a plate consisting of a taro leaf all the dishes we were generally provided with was a bowl which v nai as filled with miti mill mitt mill ia 19 a preparation of liquid consisting of cocoanut coco anut milk lime juice and seawater sea ater into this bowl we dipped all of our food it is quite amusing to see fee a newly ar rived elder struggling with a piece of pork or fish bill or a hot dian d lant lain itin dip it inlo the miti to moisten and cool before placing in tile the month then to watch him hurriedly hurried burrie lj do the canine act in ft a desperate endeavor to keep his hands hand clean on a num nuin her of occasions our weal meal consisted consist pd of plantain and a pig which had bees roasted on the rocks and laid upon the ground ears head bead feet and all there are few parts of a pig pi r that the natives do not relish in some of the villages vili ages through which we passed white while men are seldom seen A As we stalked through the winding streets of some of the quaint little villages the simple natives would come out from their low bamboo huts which slept here and there under the tall cocoanuts cocoa nuts and gaze wonderingly at the two white strangers as far as they could see sec others less leas acquainted with the whites peered sit at us in through the crevices of their buts while others apparently frightened went into the thicket and pecked at us in through the trees while we considered ourselves perfectly harmles yet these simple childlike child like natures really seemed frightened we found it almost impossible to get to speak with willi them one morning we came upon a row of low thatched huts af sleeping upon the verge of the noisy sea in this little burgh which by the way was Maba maraena Ma baena eus we saw the dusky denizens of the ruile dwellings in our immediate vicinity it if we looked ahead through the vista of trues trees we could see them watching our approach but as we drew near bear they disappeared into their vanilla plantations tat ions and like the circle bounding earth and wes skies allures from far yet as you follow ries hies if per chsce we looked behind we could see them following us seemingly to g get et a last look at us believe me when one sees his fellows to whom lie he is carrying a message of glad tidings fleeing before him evading him who hears him words of cheer 06 one is forcibly reminded of mans simplicity aim city this sort of monotony did not long canti continue nue however for as we sat down upon a log to write our journals and partake of some of tile the inviting g fruits a group of boys venturous like drew near the strangers said labrana la orana good morning a this allayed their fears and soon we found ourt ourselves elves surrounded by a group of natives old and young they came out from the wicket thicket on every a side ide oae of the white who could speak tile better took out a hook of views of salt like lake city anil and vicinity and for a few minutes he be held these simple natives entranced much they marveled at the stra strangers tigers and especially the theone one willi a long red beard many question they asked of the strange far off laud land from whence we came when we were ready to continue our journey we lind had full half a score of familiar children to accompany us some of them preceded us calling out to the dussias at tile the door front till tints papan paapaa two white str strangers aDgers we were the butt of much curiosity curio ity and seemed to afford as much wonderment for these children as barn hims circus would to the children at home these two villages were tare rare exceptions to the other oilier to towns ans that we passed through many abany times limes they would call to us from the door wily way to come and eat or sleep over night when we arrived at the farther end of the island we found several latter day saints one who had beai baptized forty years ago on another island we had tile the privilege of baptizing two children here the people learned earned that we vre were going to baptize some children so thoroughly cur ions ous were they that when we walked I 1 out to an adjacent stream to perform the baptism we were followed by halt half the people of tile the vill village ato who watched wat elied the strange ceremony with eagerness wei wc pursued our journey tr trading acting the uland island and allevina all alle eviat vint ing pred judice as best we could in a broken tongue when we arrived at papette the mail vessel had bad arrived from america and with it two more elders the clipper is a welcome sheet to the davis county elders 1 I E willey |