t to Tahiti, and
were commissioned by her to visit Chief Ori a Ori. The Cools took with
them a phonograph and themselves made records of a speech by Ori to
Mrs. Stevenson, which, with its translation, was afterwards reproduced
for her in San Francisco. But let us hear Mrs. Cool's own story of
this visit:

"Ori had never seen a phonograph in his life, but his interest was
that of a clever and civilized person--with none of the ignorance and
terror and superstition of a savage. He was more than interested in
everything relating to Louis and Tamaitai,[30] asking all sorts of
questions, intelligent ones, too, about their life in Samoa; then in
San Francisco; about Tamaitai's personal appearance--if her hair was
gray; whether she had a town house and country house, and whether they
were near the ocean and the mountains. He had a perfect picture when
we had answered them all, and he was so pleased and grateful to
us--bearers of interesting news. All this time we sat out on the
veranda of his cottage, on a moonlight night almost too heavenly to be
real--a tropical night filled with beauty and romance. Then there was
a lull in the conversation, and Ori said: 'And now tell me about John
L. Sullivan!' We fell down from romantic heights with a thud! Then we
reflected that as Louis was the greatest man intellectually that Ori
had ever met, so John L. Sullivan, the famous fighter, was the
greatest man in that line of his time. The islanders, in common with
other primitive peoples, admire physical perfection tremendously, and
feats of strength are celebrated in fable, song, and story. To Ori
there was nothing incongruous in placing John L. Sullivan, the famous
prizefighter, and Robert Louis Stevenson, the noted writer--two great
men--side by side.

[Footnote 30: Tamaitai was the Samoan name of Mrs.
Stevenson.]

"We stayed all night out at Ori's place, and as a mark of honor my
husband was given Louis's bed and I was given Tamaitai's. Ori's wife,
a little dear, kissed our hands all round because we came from
Tamaitai. Their love and admiration for her was so sincere and
touching--it is the sweetest memory I have of Tahiti. We went to see
Ori especially for Tamaitai, for she wished to know the condition of
his eyes, and whether he needed glasses. His eyes were all right then,
but later on developed some trouble, but he was so very old at that
time that he was not willing to make the trip around the islan