Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1881-12-10
Letter from Raiatea.

Inc Following interesting sketCn whlct
we take from the Visalia, Cal, Deho o
Nov. 18th, is from the pen of a lady cor
respondent at Uteroa, capital of Raatea
Society Group.
UrsRoA, RrArrA, OcEASicA, !
Oct. |, 1881. (
We arrived hero safely several weeks
ago; left Rapicte on tho evening of the 9Th
inst, came by tho ItdiaHtd "a German
schooner owned by the Societe Com.
mercinl;') had n pleasant trip of sixteen
hours from that port. Capt. Eugelkc OF
the Atdtantd had his wife on board, Ga half
caste woman,) and ms she spoke nc
English and | no native, You can have
some idea of the sociability of the thing
The Era, small steamer owned by the
same company, towed us outside the mar.
Dor and left us q short distance outside the
reef. As there was but very little wind ut
the time, and possibility of remaining in
sight of Papiete during the night together
with tho fact that n coral reef is danger.
Gus ne'ghbor in case of refractory winds,
our little Captain was in fine humor.
Fortune favors the brave" however, and
NICE breeze sprnng mp and we were soon
out OF sight of the paradise of the South
Sea-" and on the wave again, with tho
banner of Fdderiond floating over us. The
Pdfoma carried the French flag; SO, you
see, we were both French and German dur.
ing our trip. We passed Hueheiui, had n
glimpse of Boro Boro in the distance, and
came in sight of Raiatca in the face of
drcnching rain. 1t fairly poured when we
went into harbor Mt Laiohoe, tin the Mar.
quesas.) poured when we went into harbor
at Papete, and poured when we went into
harbor Mt Uteron.
THE ARRIVAL.
cannot possibly give any idea of the
beauty of these islands. Nature has been
most lavish of her gifts, and man has not
married her works; but must say the Eu-
ropoan has done much to corrupt the
morals Of the inhabitants. Why must the
Caucasians be q curse to every other race
The worst of it is, the natives have such
implicit faith in the superiority of the
whites that they are ready to initiate every
vice. Lahoa is small island three miles
from Raiatea, and rs they are enclosed by
the same reef, they are under the same
government. We can see Hueheini from
here, but Boro Boro at the same distance
is behind Lahoa; so we are unable to see it
from Uteroa. This island is entirely diff.
ferent from what expected to see. 1t is
very billy, and the hills or mountains (some
of them 1000 feet in height are covered
to the very top with mantle of green.
There has been shower every day since
our arrival, and there is an abundance of
rain water always on hand. Raiatea is
said to be forty miles in circumference, and
with Lahoa, to contain 1900 inhabitants.
There are about forty whites. The mis-
sonary's wife aud are the only simon
pure white ladies on the two islands.
Nearly all the white men have
NATIVE Or HALr.cAsrE WIVES,
And only two or three of them speak the
English language. Many of the men have
called on US, but their wives are quite shy
"A native characteristic. The missionary
and his wife, Mr.. and Mrs. Pearse, are
very excellent people, and rs they are near
l see them quite often. They have four
children, who all speak the native langu.
ago Auently, but are unable to talk
English, though they understand it very
well. They came from England to New
Zealand, where. they spent one year, from
that place to Boro Boro, where they spent
fonr years, and then came to this island,
where they have resided seven years. Mrs
Pearse is very anxious to visit England
after SO long an absence. She must have
led very lonely life during her long resi-.
dence in the South Sea without female
companionship. They have very pretty
church here which cost $4,000. 1t is built
with tho ends open, to make it cool, and is
painted white. There are numerous win.
dows, with blinds painted green. There is
an organ, but the Sunday l attended
church there was no organist, and so
could not Judge of their musical talents.
There is tine pulpit. The pews are like
those Of any other church, and the congre-
CATION the most interesting ever saw.
Indeed, am quite taken up with the PEG.
pie. They are always good-tempered and
excessively obliging. The King aud Queen
(ke ara and ke ara udhine) called on US
the next day after our arrival. The King
Lahitoe from Lotoe), is an old man
some say the oldest on this island. He is
good.looking native, about six feet in
height, and his kingly robe consisted of
green and white striped calico shirt, and a
blue and white poru. The paru is an
indispensable article of attire with all the
natives, both high aud low, and consists of
four yards of cloth, of tho most outlandish
pattern conceivable, woven for that pur.
pose. This is cut in two and seam sewed
through the middle. They wrap them
round their waists, tuck the ends in nicely,
and they are dressed. Really they
LOOK VERY WELL,
Aud they carry thorn very gracefully. This
garment looks like skirt without fullness
aud tho fancifnl patterns make it quite
artistic. The erii rah;ne, or Qneen, is a
very nice.looking woman, tall, wel.formed
and with good features. She has bcauti-
FIJI black hair, which is long and thick, and
waves clear to the roots. She had on a
gorgeous robe of red aud black, a silk
handkerchief tied round her neck, and up.
on her head black hat. The dresses are
all made in the same style, but of very ele.
CANT material for extraordinary occasions.
All are cut with small yoke, in one piece,
but in such a way that the bias part comes
in front. The skirt part is cut like full
wrapper, with no seam under the arm. but