The morning call., 1892-08-06
AN EPISODE AT TAIHIo.
Robert Louis Stevenson's Camera q,
the kauakag.

Robert Louis stevenson's Camera and
the kanakas.
''Have you been reading Robert Louis
StevensOn's stories of the South Sea ISL
ands?"
The conversation had veered from sports
in general to dogs and bicycles in par
ticular. Then it changed to boats and
boating. 1t finally wandered down into the
South Seas and got tangled up with opium,
copra. schooners and barks.
"You see / was trader down there
once" said one of the party; fused
to swap plug tobacco and calico for
copra and shells. Had a big station at
Taihio ON the island of Tahiti. Knew the
Kanakas like b and stood in with the
big chiefs and all that sort of thing.
''Some time in 1889 Stevenson came down
schooner he left San Francisco in? The
same one.
zone fine day what should l see but the
Casco sailing into the harbor. had the run
of things there, and kept whitehall on the
beach, and crew OF Kanakas near at hand.
/ used TO turn an honest penny in almost
any way.
"Of course / didn't know it was the Casco
sailing in, but knew from the reefs in her
sheets and the cautious way she was COM
ing that she had never sailed over the rocks
before.
$50 1 out and after her and caught her,
too in good season. Twenty-Five dollars i
says to the tall, good-lo0king white man
dressed like Kanaka who leaned over the
bow rail and bargained with me.
HE thought that was too much. and he
said he guessed he'd let the Kanakas steer
him in.
All right says I. but they don't know
the rocks here Then | called out TO the
kanakas In their own tongue that there was
$40 IN 1t for them if they would reef him.
They had three natives on board and they
knew their business. Inside OF 20 minutes
the tall white man sang out for me to come
aboard. The kanakas had failed him badly.
We'll, L went aboard and Steered him in.
Is there ScOtchman on this Island? is the
first question ne put to me when we cast
anchor. / told there was; an old fellow
who lived over the hills back of the station
and had brogue on him as thick as your
arm.
well, he wanted to see that man first of
all. And he paid SO for a horse and rig TO
drive him over there. But that's getting
ahead of my story.
Pm the man that writes books he
said, and went TO so over the island TO
take some pictures
well, in transferring his camera from
the schooner into the small boat it tumbled
overheard. You could look down into the
% fathOms Of water and see her lying there
by the rocks.
Stevenson was sore nut out over his loss
and showed It That's where he made a big
mistake. If he'd treated the thing as a Joke
and offered the Kanakas plug of tobacco for
It's recovery, he could have carried it ashore
with him.
But what did he do? He goes and gives
the kanakas SO a head for il, and when
two or three made believe to try for il and
came up without IL, Stevenson got excited.
III give $50 tor that machine he says,
and then all hope of getting it fled The
kanakas figured 1t cut that the camera must
be valuable thing, and that il Stevenson
would give $50 for ii the machine would be
worth more TO them than the reward.
1T seems that Stevenson had but the one
camera with him, and as the island con-
tanned some choice bits of tropical scenery,
he hated 10 leave il without getting some
photographs. But he went on over the hills
To see his Scotchman, leaving his camera,
like MeGinty, at the bottom of the sea.
NO sooner was his back fairly turned
than the kanakas began a grand scramble
for that camera, as though il was so much
gold. You couldn't have twisted a lambs
tail before they had il high and dry on the
beach They carried it off ia triumph, fully
expecting TO sell it 10 some white man for
fortune.
Three days later ! bought 1t from them
for plug OF nigger-head, and when Steven
son came that way again l gave him his
camera, none the worse Tor the soaking.
That night we all had our fill Of cham
payne on board the Casco. The next day
Stevenson make tour inland with his pho
to graphing apparatus"