halled by the best and wittiest speaker--_bar Rui_--in
Tautira. Each set of people came bending under the weight of bamboo
poles laden with fruits, pigs, fowls, etc. All were dressed in their
gayest pareus, and many had wreaths of leaves or flowers on their heads.
The prettiest sight of all was the children, who came marching two and
two abreast, the bamboo poles lying lengthwise across their shoulders.

When all the offerings had been piled in five great heaps upon the
ground, Louis made his oration to the accompaniment of the squealing of
pigs, the cackling of hens, and the roar of the surf which beats
man-high upon the roof. A speech was made in return on behalf of the
village, and then each section sent forth its orator, the speeches
following in the order I have given above. Each speaker finished by
coming forward with one of the smaller things in his hand, which he
offered personally to Louis, and then shook hands with us all and
retired. Among these smaller presents were many fish-hooks for large
fishing, laboriously carved from mother-of-pearl shell. One man came
with one egg in each hand saying, "carry these to Scotland with you, let
them hatch into cocks, and their song shall remind you of Tautira." The
schoolmaster, with a leaf-basket of rose apples, made his speech in
French. Somehow the whole effect of the scene was like a story out of
the Bible, and I am not ashamed that Louis and I both shed tears when we
saw the enchanting procession of schoolchildren. The Catholic priest,
Father Bruno, a great friend of ours, said that for the next fifty years
the time of the feast of the rich one will be talked of: which reminds
me of our friend Donat, of Fakarava, who was temporary resident at the
time we were there. "I am so glad," he said, "that the _Casco_ came in
just now, otherwise I should be forgotten: but now the people will
always say this or that happened so long before--or so long after--the
coming of the _Silver Ship_, when Donat represented the government."

In front of our house is a broad stretch of grass, dotted with
cocoanuts, breadfruits, mangoes, and the strange pandanus tree. I wish
you could have seen them, their lower branches glowing with the rich
colours of the fruits hung upon them by Ori and his men, and great heaps
lying piled against their roots, on the evening of our feast. From the
bamboo poles that they were carried upon, a pen was made for the ten
pigs, and a fowl house for the twenty-t