The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1922-06-08
A PACIFIC PARADISE
CONTINUED from page u

unless all chrOnlclerS OF the ISLANDS nave
for several centuries agreed to deceive the
world, such was the Marquesanne; so she
is today when sickness has not diminished
her charm.
The men were fierce, cruel cannibals,
whose chief occupation, aside from the in
diligence of their amative proclivities, was
the killing of both men and women of other
tribes for gastronomic purposes.
The all-powerful tabu was the claw
and the prophets" of the Marquesan. Some
of the tabus for the guidance of the
women would probably incite suffragette
to spectacular wrath. Without exception
on any island, women might not eat "long
pig;" nor brown pig, delicacy much en-
joyed by the men folks in the absence OF
the longer variety.
Nor daily with bonita or squid, the two
fishes most in favor with the Marquesan
palate.
Nor, except on special occasions, eat
fresh breadfruit bananas, or coconut.
Nor could they go in canoes, pro-
vision to keep them from being captured
by enemies lurking outside the bay.
And, tabu savoring of Solomon in its
wisdom, women could not weep
1t would be a grave error to conclude
from the taboos mentioned that the life of
the Marquesan woman was hard one.
Agriculture in any form was unknown.
The natives took the bountiful variety of
fora the islands provided, but to assist ma
ture in any way by tilling or replanting
never occurred to them. Content with their
qualification of the desires of the day, the
Marquesans took literally no thought for
the morrow
The most favored intoxicant in the Mar
quesas is namu-ehi, or, as it is more COM
monty known, koko. Eli is Marquesan for
coconut, and it is from the coco palm that
this most insidious and delectable of
drinks is made. A tall coco palm that
has been windblown so that its plumy top
chosen. The buds, from which even
tually fifty or sixty nuts would be pro-
duced, grow in a compact, oblong cluster
near the top of the palm. The native
climbs the tree and, using long strips of
bark or fiber, binds the cluster of blossoms
tightly round and round, until the result
h,,no Fat 81
from the fronds. Underneath the point
of this a bowl is suspended and the tip
end of the wrapping sliced off.
After the second day it begins to drip
freely, but the end must be sliced fresh
every twenty-four hours to stimulate the
flow. In this manner a tree will furnish
one or more gallons a day for several
weeks.
When fresh from the tree the beverage
resembles delicious lemonade, with
favor which would make the fortune of
soft-drink manufacturer who could re-
produce it. Fermentation takes place
speedily, however, and in few hours
your soft drink has "hardened" into
vicious man-killer that only savage can
go against with impunity.
Captain Cooks report placed the Mar
quesas literally and fguratively con the
map" That was 145 years ago, and
since then the history of the islands is the
tragic story of losing fight by race of
savages against civilization represented
in this instance by the whaler, the mission
airy, the trader, the "blackbirder," and
finally their conquest and subjdgation by
foreign power.
In 1912 Admiral Du Petit Thouars took
possession of the entire group in the name
of France, ostensibly to protect the mis-
sionaries in their labors for Christianity.
Forts were built on several of the islands
and troops installed to enforce French
authority. The ensuing fifty years is a