Show I 1 Jensens Travels i LUTU 110 111 Friday February 28th 1806 After en toying a good right rest In Mipuhls house onTAaroa Elder Frank Cutler and prepared I to spend Hie day in our little room engaged In historical labors but roots a reprenhthe from the few Josephltes J on the Island called on und > u-nd desired us to accompany Ides to the house where they hold their meeting On our arrival there we were greeted wllli a nice little ipeech and presented with two live chickens and two baskets lit cocoanuts Soon alter returning la Mapuhl house a delegation from our uwn Church walled on us and conduct Fit us to a duelling where nunber of Saint had gathered A fpeechof tact some and a presentation ol I a mull pit a number of chickens and several bailed of cocoanuts were licit In order Elder Cutler responded In a little speech for both of us hosing done the wme In Hie losephlte meeting All the food l was vent toMapuhla house where we according appointment met stilt half a dozen old men three ol horn had been personally acquainted wIth the late liter Atvirno lank I but the native on the Pacific Islands seem to have no conception of dates to w e obtained only a very little Information from them At 4 p in we attended the regular Friday I testimony meeting with the Saints at which Elder Cutler and several 1 names were the speaker just alter the meeting meet-ing closed a genuine tropical rain storm commenced and lasted nearly an hour So blent was the descent ol water from the clouds that the thought occurred occurr-ed to me that trait the Island not been based on a good solid coral rock foundation found-ation It Mould surely hoe Urn washed i In the ocean In the curving llrother i Mapuhl who bad been away planting trees on another part t of f the hand returned re-turned home and we had a long cuts rnation with r him el He rank as the leading business man on the Tuamotii Islands he owns three schooners and store on nearly all the principal islands Since the reupening nl Ihu inlHlon 1801 he his given cur Iders 1 free transportation trans-portation on Ills vessels and prodded a good home for them whenever they have stepped al Tnkaroa The French I officials 11 Tahiti ir calls him he king of a the Tuamolus lie I Is I a hall caste Saturday February 1 jolh We spent the day gleaning historical Information from all possible sources pertaining to Tnkaroa and ill ecclesiastical hUtory The Island 01 Tabro Is about eleven miles long from southwest northeait and five miles wide on an average The only llljgeon the el Island I which is called Teavarai covers all ol snull mot containing only about thirty acres ol land Ibis lies on northwest side I of the island on the north side nl a narrow pass a through the reel which Is I deep y enough for smaller vessels to pass I In and out A substantial stone whirl ilea l been built In front ol the vllage about hall way through the passage I coining In Irom the ocean The homed uf the village are generally neat cotta CM J built in 1 uropean asMon and some of them ore try romlortahlc and esen tllh Mspuhla home icing the best ol theist all Neatly all the buildings Ire I-re nurrounded with veeondos or porches which are ao omentlal for com furl in it Iroplcal home The strtets are laid cut regularly sons toconlormto the shape ol the mom and Ihe whole lon plaits covered wish 1 Shrilly growth of beautiful cocuanut tiff In all matters pertaining tu progress and Im provemenlsMapuiil is l the leailuiK spirit Ihe centre uf the lliml ol Takiroais I iluateil In latitude 14 17 south longitude longi-tude IJ4 ° 55 west ol dreenwich hits I about jjo miles ins straight line northeast north-east ill raliltl and im miles north north ia > t ol Iakauva 1 Takaroa was seen by the navigator Koggewein In ii when Cook sub siiiuently discovered lhaland the neighboring neigh-boring Island Takapoto he nanml 1 the nrII i r orJt r iron King deorgc islands but this ap pellatlon is Ignored l by the French 1 Tne first Utter day Saint Elder I wliu preached preach-ed 1 the Gospel on Takaroi was the late Alvaru Hanks Acrompanled by a nailtx ililer he first arrlvedat the island Is-land l In IHI being sent trues a conference confer-ence held at Anaa in August 1151 agreeable to the riiiiest ol some of lIe leading men ol Takanxi and Takapoto who attended said conference and some iif w horn were baptized on that occasion 1Iler 1 Hanks on his arrival was wed I received by the I people und he soon baptized II most of Hie inhabitants I of I both Islands and organlred them Into branches ot the Church He made AkOlO1 his headquarters and irons there he made successful missionary tourslo other Islands I Is-lands Eider Hanks let a good name behind I him and Is renumbered as an Industrious nunwho not only preached but by example shotted lie natives how tu make their homes comfortable and lo bake proper care of their animals and other properly In the first organisation ol the branch en akarua Mirere lepo was made president In due course ol lime he was excommunicated trust the Church for drunkenness and l Maru succeeded suc-ceeded him about 1870 Slant rerlshcd In the great cyclone of styli while onus tint to the island of Kaukun alter attending conference at Takarava rehullnul was the next president He acted I till October yth l8y when Tear Ike the present Inc mbtnlol the ollice was appointed president a conference held at Teniarie Anal During all these I J an meetings were 1 held regularly regular-ly and Church nutters attended to as correctly as the natives understood Hi em When the Joseplnles came they were nut received AS the natives doubted the correctness I of their statements and the I Saints now rejoice Hut they tied i so as the lakarna branch h I one of I the lew branches I of the Church In the liiamolua which remained I firm and did not yield to the Joiephlle J delusions Uhen 11 den Jose J a W Dimron and Thomis Jones j sJ arrived I In fAkaron November nt 1891 < Iliey found a branch of time Church numbering about lou members Its present numerical strength Is no Including children This constitutes the great majority I of the permanent rest dents 11 the Island I hef others Are Catholics and l losephiies The Salami i are engaged In erecting one of the finest Church buildings on the Tuamotu islands The + coral rock walls were completed In September last and are now wailing for the roof The building I Is 69 leet long by I vt wide And so feel high tu the t squire Meetings are now I held In a smaller house built I in native fashion wish thatched roof The I islands nnd archipelagoes In the Pacific ocean are susceptible ol clnsslfi cation into three well marked types namely first tho atoll or laguun Island second the railed coral Island and third the high mountainous Island Darwin lasso and other eminent scientists have expounded Ihe following theory of the formation of atolls and raised coral islands is-lands During the long ages pall and gone as Iho land or the traditional 1acifie continent was imperceptibly sinking the reel building polyp raised its great bastion on the mountain Hanks and kept pact with Ihe slowly l submerging submerg-ing mass The combine I movement ended in the formation of the great reef an eternal movement ul the mountains buried beneath the waters of the lagoon which It encloses On miss lops ol 1 the mountains as they Ink beneath the lagoon the coral continued con-tinued lo build forming the rock pitches nf greater or less I extent characteristic ul them all > Tne raised coral Island According Ac-cording to the Darwin theory Is the only atoll with nshallow lagoon gradually gradu-ally filled with coral debris and the whole elevated by submarine forces until a solid Island never exceeding too lo TOO feet at its highest point was the result finery theories were basal on the belief that the reel building poll cannot cost at n greater depth than IM feet can nourish only In water ol the greatest clearness and purity And must have n solid rock foundation for lislnlint home Hut modern geology disputes the Darwinian theory ul coral formation and a new theory lias been Adtnnced through the researches of Mr John Murray naturalist of the lirllish government steamship Challenger and strengthened by subsequent discoterles made by others The nero theory is held to meet the Ascertained facts more naturally and inure completely but as I have srlll1lfie works by me treating treat-ing upon this matter I am unable to explain the theory to the readers ol the NRUS at present The name atoll I Is of Maldlve origin According lo a book written by i funs orable I redertcl J Moss now llrltith resident of Uarotonga the otentate who rules over the Mildive I group styles hennaed Sultan f the I IuXil and Twelte Thousand Isles In one sense the tlllt Is I only A mild Oriental exaggeration each constllng of it all water lagoon and a number of Islets sorm lime a very large number strung together at Irregular Inlertali on line narrow surface ul the surrounding coral reef The Islet covered reef hems In the deep lagoon which It has cut oil from Ihe surrounding ocean Its characteristic features ore fir steepness and great depth of the reef walls and the narrowness narrow-ness Illness and low level of line Islets formed upon its surface Fw lagoons are lets man five ruilcit long and three ur lour miles I ruadThe majority are much larger tome being of great she Thus the 1 lagoon ol lijglroa one ol the ruamoliil I is forty two miles long and twenty miles wide In approaching a ligoun IJ Island it cannot be seen from a ships deck In she I cleanest weather I at a greater distance than ten to twelve miles Even Ibn it Is only the tops of the tall cocoanut trees on the Islets that nro visible The land is from six 1 to twelve feet above the sea AS a rule though occasionally A few eal lest higher I Approaching Ihe Island the long line of breaker Is discerned as the ocean bents with fury upon the outer edge of the massive reef A narrow brownllne gradually coming into view marks the belt ol shallow water vsry rag In breadth from one to several hundred yards eon erlng the surface of the reel between the I breaker and the while biaches of pure coral sand which border the Islets or m uus native name on Ihe reef The house uf the natives wherever there are such peep out from Ihe thick green cocoanuti grovel Let a man walk straight through these grotes fur lou to Sou yards ns the case may be and he will 1 have crossed lire motu and find himself him-self lacing the deep blue water of the laguon with another intervening 1 brown belt shallow water similar to tint on the ocean ride ol the reef The reef which Iniloses most of Ihe Tusmotu lagoons are bare nt Intervals In lad only A small portion ul them Is covered w Illi islets nsn rule borne ol the Intervals In-tervals are fordable so that A person can wales In shallow water from one motu lo another though In many places the sea rolls over them freely Into the Incluied area Some of the motus contain con-tain only A few acres olland while others are several miles long but seldom attain more than Stan yards at their greatest breadth So near the level ol Ihe ocean and covered with tla ely palms whose crested Ie heads totter above the few trees that find n home uniting them the Islets icattered on the reef between She deep blue ocean on the one tide and Urn deep blue lagoon on the other lie Ike A cnai + let of emeralds aa Inn sap ritn ori phi I r re sea The beauty of the I coral gardens formed in Ihe clear tannin on the seaward face of the reef has been lie scribed by many travelers most < glowing glow-ing terms They certainly I are grand And extremely piecing to the eye Assuming As-suming every thipe of mlnliture shruB and I tree and with 1 PI lull ol daiihng color And varied hue darling lo and lio among the branches these fairy gardens once Ken can never be forgotten I red J 1 Moss In Ills book entitled Through Atolls I And Islands of the Great boiilh bea1 publish I in London 169 siS alter first describing the inhabitants in-habitants ol the lagoon 1 Islands Scarcely less Interesting ii the coral 011 p Ihe humble means through ailed Ihcss man elous aloils hit ebeen created becreling runt the ccean the time ol which their f minute frames are bull I they lived and died leaving Innumerable Innumer-able progeny planted on Ihe skeletons of their ancestors continue the process pro-cess Ilil I in the course ul ages they formed gigantic I bastions ol 1 limestone aoo beet In depth with a width at Ihe nurlace varying from 500 lo 1500 yards The width at the base must be In proportion 1 pro-portion to the height and the glgintic me ol the reef may be easily Imiilne0 As it rise out ut the icean Ihe Insects perish poisoned by the air without which we who Inherit Ihtlr work cannot can-not live On the narrow surface thus exposed the gales and currents deposit debris and gradually form the detached inlets surrounding the lagoon The narrowing of line land makes the climate ol tree uamotui cool and lor a tropical latitude delightful The easteritlrade winds nestle always prevail pre-vail but seldom blows very hard Hut A lagoon I Island has ijulto A few draw backs There are no lulls no valleys no running ilreami no land birds tery few llowers scarcely any grass and none of the features which In other lands itimtilatt the imagination and Rive tirnt to He laIlUlj I A lagoon Island If Its appearance soon becomes monotonous Nor Is Inis relieved by vistlliiK outer islands for they are no near alike In their formation and ploy cal features generally I that alter A man r 1JAtry has seen one Island he has virtually seen them all In his natural state lire wants ol the Tuamolu itlindern are lew toe 1 mood he has always the cocoanut which In I sometimes tolled the tree of life as it nllurds both food and drink The sea and the lagoon Abound with fish many al r of them tasteless i and insipid to the Inhabitants In-habitants cf a colder climate but regarded re-garded by the natis ns delicious and often eaten raw when caught They have their masts ol turtle and pigs in Ion I-on Ihe whole lead a joyous contented lite marred only by failures in thecucoti lr lt I1I nut crop petty omit I or tribal iuirrels or occasional sickness I 1 orrnerly the natives of fuamotu used mi other clIng oth I cl-Ing than their Ion or breechclolh but now the men wear a smut In Addition And Ihe w unen u single skirl mid A waist delatched AS a rule Their I native houses are generally low and I small with upen I sides And thatched with braided cucoanut leaves Generally I peaking I ecC people eu are cleanly tl In their habits and bathe user Y frequently 1 In saltwater salt-water Llko other brunches ol the Polynesian family Iheyam expert swim meta and diver The capacity for the liter I Is I especially of value to them when fishing for shells An expert diver can descend In water fifteen fathoms and remain re-main under water several minutes The question ol obtaining sufficient fresh water on the Tuamolus has always been a serious one Frequently the people have suffered for the want of It In earlier I da > s ihclr I i chltf 1tII 1 rka WAS II the cool and bright fluid contained In the green cocoanut but the enormous mums tiers 10 used materially fleeted the pro action of copra which can only be r1r II made from cl she ripe nut In which hire fluid ls I neither so abundant our Palatable Pala-table Hence Ihe use of water for drinking purpose Is becoming more commuii In order to obtain the ncces wary tupelo ponds are dug out of the e orfmolloua Ir coral I rock or hollows cut In the cocoa I nut treed and rain water collected In I Ihem Tile rocky ponds are also frequently fre-quently used a > bathing places and line cadres tl is sand drink the water without I softening She III IIr fleets which a while man naturally would anticipate In some islands groups of all ages may be seen disporting themselves In these slagnaut pools And occasionally one ol the f number will sweep She scum brow Ihe lurlicc and drink a handful of the dilly tepid fluid below The water iuestlon becomes serious also for vessels cruising through these lagoon Islands Iurupean and American Ameri-can traders stationed on iheTuimoius take care to hate the roofs of their liouies covered with galtamied Iron and catch the rainwater as it tails but the quantity collected Is I only enough for their own use and they have none to spare lor the supply ol shipping No 11 SIa wonder that the old nitlgators dreaded these low and uncotiprehtnslble IlUn Their unsheathed worm eaten shut and their Kurvled perishing crews could find neither help nor health on these water lei snores ANIIKKW JKNION HOTOANA Inkarata 1uainutu Island Is-land l larch fclh 196 |