he crew came in one by one, their naked
bodies running water, their eyes eager for a draught of the tea, into
which I put a little rum, the last of the two litres. Squall
followed squall, shaking the hut. At half-past two, in a little lull
which Neo guessed might last, we went out to the rain-soaked beach,
launched the canoe, and paddled away.

My last sight of Vait-hua was the dim line of surf on the sand, and
beyond it the slender figure of Vanquished Often holding aloft a
lantern whose rays faintly illumined against the darkness her
windblown white tunic and blurred face.

The storm had lured us by, a brief cessation. We had hardly left the
beach before the heavens opened and deluged us with rain. Water
sluiced our bare backs and ran in streams down the brawny arms
bending to the oars. We paddled an hour before the wind was favorable,
and a dreary hour it was. The canoe had an out-rigger, but was so
narrow that none could sit except on the sharp side. I fell asleep
even upon it, and woke in the sea, with the chief, who had flung
himself to my rescue, clutching my hair.

Morning found our canoe close to the rocky coast of Hiva-oa. As is
their custom, instead of making a beeline for our destination or
sailing to it close-hauled as the winds permitted, the Marquesans
had steered for the nearest shore, following along it to port. This
method is attended with danger, for off the threatening cliffs a
heavy sea was running, great waves dashing on the rocks, and we were
perforce in the trough as we skirted the land.

[Illustration: Catholic Church at Atuona
Described by Stevenson in _The South Seas_]

[Illustration: A native spearing fish from a rock]

We quit the sail for oars, and it took every ounce of strength and
skill on the part of the rowers and Seventh Man to avoid shipwreck.
Each breaker as it passed tossed the frail craft skyward, and we fell
into the abysses as a rock into a bottomless pit. Every instant it
seemed that we must capsize. While we fought thus, in a frenzied
effort to keep off the rocks, the sun rose, and every curl of water
turned to clearest emerald, while the hollows of the leaping waves
were purple as dark amethysts.

Suddenly, as we slid breathlessly downward, a great wall of water
rose beside us, higher and higher until it seemed to touch the sky,
clear and solid-looking as a sheet of green glass, a sight so
stupendous that amazement took the place of fear. For an instant it
remained