Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-09-20
ON CORAL ISLANDS.
People Whose Home is Barely Above
The Ocean Level.
IT is THE LAND on COcOiSurs.
A salt Lake Boy Writes Interestingly
to His Relatives aud
Friends.


among this remnant Of the house OF
Israol, and also the character OF the
country aud the customs Of It's in'
bsbitautp.
When first received my call here
felt rather discouraged, but realizing
that had been chosen 10y those pos
sossing the highest authority unuet
the Almighty upon the earth,
heartily responded, knowing 'hHt uou
used the weak things q the certh -
battle against the powerful, AID that
n put my trust ia Aim and uid my
part faithfully Ho could make my
mission success.ul one.
Tahiti is ~ pretty u slot ~ one
would with 10 goze upon. faiec'e
magnificent hatbJr which m sur
rounded by coral reef, Ia a suitable
resting place tor the seas transit vehi'
Giles, and h calm whom the ocenn's oi.-
lows are raging IN their greatest iufy'
The island l. OF volcanic formations IKE
~ companions Ia thv Society group
think the higheet peak aspiftS 10 a.
elevation Of some 5000 feet above the
great Paciiio's level. The mountains
aud hillsides are clothed with shrub
berry aud gfa.ars, very different 10 the
Hnow.capp,d peaks Of U,ab, while the
fnviuus are be dtukcd with uUnau forests
anu abound with SUCH ifuitH as The
ufnngr, banana, lei, bread NUT, pine
apple, cucauui, guAvu, etc, anh many
beautiful hINeis anu terms. IL h ~
beautiful place, ~ Tar NJ appearances
goes, hut "bvauty IL only skin deep"
TIE uitauyaniugts are mauyi the
climate n hot, being located Ia n
tropical region, und tho customs aud
habits VI tue people ~ their great cry
paperic are not Of an elevated chnfac-
ter. They ARE shiltluss set, rs rule,
and q mute Immoral iopple have
never met. When 1 arrived here /
found little 20 encourage me. Toe
English speaking people discouraged
"; the ministers VI the day scofucd
Us busidru circulating false reports OF
our actions ami iutunii0us, while the
uuings Of the Inhabitants were OF tie
most loathsImc character. | npw
write OF the people oi Paperte anu my
first impressions.
To trnuer our prospect on arriving
Biili mpTe uituuutngiug,W we met no con-
ytf,s Or Mormon missiInaurics, ~ that
our undertaking seemed more iOrmiu.
Able than before. Our prayers were
continually ascending 10 the Almighty
10 send some one to our rescue, anu
after considerable ueluy We were
chterud by the arrival Of President
James =. Brown and his son + audo.
Although We were called ~ iaUUf on
la NHHHH III
thought II would be better for two Of
us 10 spend our time among the inhab.
itants OF the TuHmoid group. These
csOmutimts called the Lower Arcli-
pclagO lslnuus. AZ result, Brother &.
+. LAtsuu ana / were chosen TO come
To this section Of the vineyard, when
lies some Two hundred mlltH north VI
Papee,o.
Uniiku Tahiti, these islgnds are OF
coral formation, uOuo reaching au uit-
walton oi twenty irut, while the most
# them Ataud ia ievt atOve sea level
at their greatest altitude. COcoauuts
abound mere, the EARN not briug
Hdnpted ~ the growth Uf other fruit
Situated Ia the center OF each ifiand
IL "a large lagoon, where the people
make their nviug by uivlug Tor the
valuable pearl shell whicl h stcfutel
other pursuit IL the making Of c1pa
from the c0cUauut. The nut WHEN
ripe IL opened ami the meat dried.
Thousands OF tons arc annually
thipped 10 San Fraucifco, where the
finest Ut tUiiet SOAP h munuincl uftd
from the same. Ihe natives Of this
group ure OF darker cast than are
tnUse Of Papettr, but far ahead OF them
iu morality anu good works. some ui
their customs and actions might be
patterned after by the whites with
prOtt.
Gu sunday NJ home we always tx.
poet the best OF meals, How different
here. Your meals are cold, being pre-.
pared the day previous. The women
folks don'tstsy home, but go to church,
Hs do the men. Siace my arrival here
Tucatna has been my nuiuing place,
There are four missionaries In this
group Brothers DAmtOn, Jones anu
Larsen, anu myself Within the lastsix
weeks We have baptized seven anu
besstd ono child. There are some
four hundred "MOrmOns" ON these
islands. The JOsephitts have quite "a
band OF followers. These were ali
members Of our Church at one timo,
hut have been led RstTay by one n Omas
Smith, an apostle OF lheir creed.
Mr.. Mopuhi Is IA hutoaste; he l.
wealthy aud treats us with all the
kindness we could expect from a
father. We have been staying herr
Tor Elk weeks with him, anu hb viii
take no pay from ~. lie goes to our
mvstings regularly anu has charge OF
the work Of building the "M0rmon"
meeting house, which Is % by 30 feet,
aud IL to be sixteen feet high. Tnis is
iine editiue for u people like this to
attempt ~ complete N three months,
but think they viii do IL. We have
had the best VI food Obtainablo In this
section Of the country, anu / hope We
viii never fare worse. After this my
letteFs VIII ue short anu lew. Mo inlay
We leave hero for Fakuraya, where We
anticipate attending con efonoe. After
this Brother DAmron and myself Will
90 To AuR.
On sunday, the .5h VI May,
married my inst couple. Brother
Larsen baptized them after they were
united a. one. They were then Cuu-
htmei, The people here aru very
good 10 us, treating US better than
expected. They will not lot mis-.
siOnary turn his manu- 10 work " there
Is any way Of stopping him. Mr.
Mopuhl IL specially kind, doing all IN
his power 10 make ua comfortable, aud
this IN great deal, Tor he has the
money anu iuilurnce u help US IN