Show on abo calm bolt belt of tho Is in some iv VOYAGING 1 abo T he ocean traveler accustomed to more temperate tomp erato laU latitudes misses tho the bracing quality of tho the atlantic breezes broc zos tho the shifting panorama of a BOB sea whose winds aro are nevor never tho the same and whose rest restless loas moods find no counterpart la in the monotonous blue billows of tho the south it Is a shi deserted ocean where unless thoro there blows up a burrl burri thoro there Is no chaffe in the unwavering current of tho the mild trado trade winds blowing steadily in their allotted allot tod courses tho the whole year around sea and sky unite in a monotony which Is in only broken by the wonder of the suu bota and it la to warm uncomfortably warm beastly hot as tho the man will vill say when bo he reminds you 1 that your tepid salt water bath at fords you no relief yet when the cloud capped headlands of tahiti come up upon tho the horizon you remember only that you aro are at last in sight eight of those fabled bonde lands tho the islands of tho the blest to those to tho the isles of tho the south seas mean little more than a school book memory or a mental picture drawn from letters from pierre loti LOU or the tales of jack london a reminder may bo necessary necos tho the society Is island it d colony of cf the french republic are situated approximately 2000 miles south mouth of our own hawaiian isles miles south southwest of san francisco upon the direct route of new zealand and in 18 degrees of south latitude commercially as well as in point of size and in population tahiti ts Is the principal island of tho the group tho the capt tal city of papette Pa peete whose population represents perhaps one third of tho the whole colony lying under tho the lofty lotty mountains upon its western shore in cloud capped tahiti comfortable ton steamships carry you there from san francisco in dollies between those ridges the mountain streams fed by innumerable waterfalls fallis find their way into the broad lagoon lagoons tho the coral reefs wn i which protect the low lying vanilla and coco cocoa encircling this unexplored ani inac inao cesal blo interior iles that 81 of alluvial plain which comprises tho the only inhabited portion of tho the islands hero on the gradual slopes between tho the rugged mountains mount alne and tho the sea ea coast shaded aa an la Is necessary tho the vanilla grows and covering the wido wide bea beaches chos tho the cocoanut that other staple of island production roam rears its tufton branches of palm liko like loaves leaves above tho the curving and graceful trunk so familiar to the oyo eye from every viewpoint excepting the pictures picturesque quo alono alone tho the islands may bo be said to consist entirely of this narrow plain in places but a few rods 3 wide and rarely attaining a greater width than halt a mile according to local measurement perhaps a kilo kilometer mOtOr tho the fact that the arable amble land from which the islands derive their wealth Is thus limited in extent may bo be sum clont reason in itself for tho the fact that during tho the past decades those theme countries have made so little advance commercially merci merc lally ally and arro still comparatively unknown the raising of vanilla and cocoanuts Is still almost exclusively in the hands of the natives who farm farin and cultivate on a small scale who hold under a complex system of titles and who are content to cultivate the land only to the extent necessary to satisfy their simple needs they control the land aro are loath to part with it to the foreigner and being satisfied fied with conditions ce as they are will not nut trouble to increase its productivity under tinder his him direction copra and vanilla are raised and cured as they wore were 40 years ao and as the demand for both articles art cles Is 15 un limited nimi ted and they represent substantially the export trado trade of the le I av 1 4 3 4 14 4 xa 1 I A 01 4 iu NATIVE DANCING GIRLS 12 days t f voyage v which represent represents nearly one halt half of their running time to sydney australia the final port of call three days out from the golden gate you are in tho the tropics you don your white duck or pongee your eng and australian friends cease from troubling you with strange questions about your country and the after noon game 0 ot t cricket upon the boat deck dock appears less inviting A day of excessive heat beat and humid ity confronts you in the doldrums but after crossing the line the southeast trades begin to blow in over the bow and you are in comfort tor for I 1 the rest of your journey shortly before tahiti Is sighted the steamship passes the first land visible since leaving san francieco Franc leco the outlying atoll of Tit laroa and tour four hours later you enter the narrow opening in n the bar rier reef and are at anchor off the water wate waterfront r front of papette Pa peete with the french tricolor tri C color olor flying above the white gove government M M ent buildings and from frow the staff of t the he giant semaphore upon the hillside behind no understanding of conditions eoa soa commercial or otherwise upon the islands Ix lande can be reached without at mgt fundamental conception of that peculiar topography which explain explains to acreal great extent exten t the limitations to which subject both aa an a place of they their are and as a Perne zt place of justness bode taking tahiti as typical and sense en ave save tor for unveil nearly ev every ery in tod a body ot 0 1604 luul cir dr size it lewe le ia we A cular in shape approximately 30 20 miles milas in diameter 0 of markedly volcanic origin and covered with a tumbled mass of jagged mou mountains stains whose whoso highest peaks plunge into the clouda clouds at an altitude of pearla feet from these towering summits the land falls away in sharply ridges covered from top to bottom with the impenetrable masses of the lancina lan laut bina nna 6 a dense tropical growth which roachel hes a height of 12 feet and makes climbing or exploration impossible except with the aid of natives armed with the me mu choto down the dark and narrow islands it can easily bo be seen th that at while resent conditions condi tlona exist business conditions will remain unchanged also and present conditions have been bett bettered gred by the apparent policy of laisner allor aller pursued from the begins begin ning by the french A protectorate since sinco the days of J louts philippe a colony almost as an long its mantere have built roads drainage and water sy systems sterns and district schools echo ola they have aided the work of the missionaries their government baa has been pa in many senses of the tho word yet in matters of com commeree advancement a certain energy ams o 0 to have been lacking which cannot be wd solla at t the door of the tropical MY ft aa OAK age toes his 1 to success 4 that he W sitting it at that 1 |