OCR Text |
Show IbLAWU Ul- lAtliii White Men Rare in7 This South Sea Country. la Today the Same Paradise Which Cook Found It, When a Century and a Half Ago He Put Into Pao-Pao to Water 8hlps. ' Now York. "Do tho avorngo traveler Tahiti remains tho ilo Inconnu. Tho tourist is not oxpected thero; ho is regarded with suspicion. Ho domands a bath-tub article undreamed of In tho island philosophy ho domnndB n reasonable dogrco of promptness in tho overy-day affairs of life, ho makes othor nnd extraordinary demands. Whon ho realizes that nothing whatovor what-ovor has been doho for his amusement or edification, that to tho islanders tho outer world from which ho comes exists ex-ists only in tho imagination; when ho realizes thcso things as soon ho does it is thon that ho learns to content himself with things as thoy aro, and to admlro tho beauties of tho placo as naturo mado and has left them. Thoro aro no towns upon Moorca. Whito men aro a rarity. It Is today tho Island paradiso which Cook found It whon, a century and n half ago, ho put Into Pao-Pao to water his ships. Today, also, tho natlvo lives tho llfo ho did thon tho natlvo Ignorant, uncivilized, un-civilized, if you plcaso, but with a voice nnd manners, a gift of hospitality, hospital-ity, which put tho whlto man to shamo. Horo, moro than elsewhere, ho scorns himself n part of that haunting haunt-ing beauty which surrounds him on every hand. Horo, whon tho day Is done, undor tho cocoanuts and tho bananas, "bo-twixt "bo-twixt tho sun nnd moon upon tho shore," tho travclor if ho is fortunate enough to havo tho entree sits him down, as honored guest, among tho retainers of tho nnttvo chief. Mounted upon a natlvo pony, and in tho cool of tho morning, ho has coursed tho wild pig in tho shadows of tho great crator- s ' ?v.;wv &3 ,y.-' :;& ' , 'I Summer Visitors to Tahiti. .vailejvTfl-TStornoon haB found him lava-Ashing fnVtho lnlanu lako. Now 'tho shadows aro falling, tho magical afternoon mists aro over tho peaks which climb stooply upward beforo him, and tho short twilight is at hand. Presently, tho tropic moon will rise to tako its courso directly overhead, making tho weird vistas about him light as day again. Ho hears the voices about him, prattling in tho melodious me-lodious Maori tonguo, and, afar off tho thunder of tho surf upon tho distant dis-tant reefs. Ho closes his eyes and dreams of a tomorrow llko today, and then of Btlll other tomorrows. Ho has eaten tho fol tho Island Lotus and, If ho dreams of homo, it is as somo placo which perhnps will know him no moro. THE END TO A FAMOUS SCOUT |