The New York herald., 1922-02-19

have introduced coffee, nanioc, va
nilia, oxen. goats, mice, mosquitoes.
fieas. bicycles. sewing machines.
telephones. ice-works. eoncertinas,
cotton frochs, corrugated Iron,
Christianity, Mormanism, Munyon's
remedies, mouth-organs. milk :
shakes. tuberculosis, syphilis. and
other amenities, which have -four
ished exceedingly in that virgin soil
and caused q number of mOdifica-
tions in the life of the natives,
known collectively as Civilization.
The chief center OF these Inodiflca-
tons Is Pape-ete, where there Ks also
a French Governor, custom house,
gun boat. and tri-color flag. Pape-
etc is therefore known as the capi-
tall"
By day Pape-ete Is collection OF
two or three hundred modern houses
hidden among two or three thousand
trees. and there are jarring notes in
the landscape; but: "At night the
whole town grows mysterious and
wonderful It is very dark under
the trees, no carriages or carts are
running; men and women walk
silently with bare feet. The air is
heavy with the smell of unknown
spicy things. and trembles to the
7ily-siender' voice of innumerable
cicadas, scattered from the earth
right up into the sky. Every night
in Pape-ete one is surprised afresh by
this deafening noise, which comes
out only in the darkness, like the
sweet scents with which it is SO
inevitably bound up in sensation.
:. There is too mgeh outcry
for understanding; it is ike bells
ringing inside the skull; one feels
a vague stirring of regret and unde-
fined desire.
'Srihoti and Aritana 1.-THE nearest
the native speech could come to
George and Alexanderl the two
travellers, the Engiishman and the
Russian, walked slowly. stopping
now and then to take it all in; the
big unaccustomed shrubs behind the
white fences. hot house rarities Law
ished at random; the strong, vary
ing perfumes, the sense Of peace;
the glimpses of blue starlight; the
yellow occasional gieam of a lamp
in a low built house. siihouetting
treIlis and creepers; the mysterious
life within. sharp voice from time
TO time In tire distance >"
The travellers visit the Casino.
where the local bayaderes are drink
ing bottled beer and dancing. in de-
iiance of authority. "You must not
dance here; it is forbidden" "Ce
nest pas moi qui danse," answered
Tupuna: "C'est Ia liere qui danse." ("
And she went on with It.
Tihoti mingled with the people.
lived with them. learned their GUS
toms and their dialects. walked bare
foot as they did; "eonsorted with
them" as Aritana said; and his book
is closely packed with the thousand
trifiing incidents which, together,
form the life of q people. He was
deeply interested in the people. their
language and habits; but he had
no Illusions as to the difficulties of
any European occupation OF the
island; the native temperament is
not TO be changed; it can only be
spoiled. Like most travellers whose
natural Indignation is not repressed,
his condemnation of the methods Of
many missionaries is severe.
The fifty pencil sketches must be
confessed a disappointment. for they
were so lightly drawn that reproduc-
ton has been unsatisfactory. Yet
there Is great beauty as well as
strong characteristic in racial Pc
culiarities in features and the struc-
ture of the heads. The sketches,
slight as they are, are highly deco
rative, but they are scarcely tangi-
BILE. Mr.. Calderon's photography of
books consulted will be useful to
students.