CHAPTER XV.

The semaphore—Immutable tides—The coral-reef—Spearing fish—Netting—Catching sharks—A royal mausoleum—Superstitions of East and West—Centipedes—Intoxicating drinks—Influenza—Death of Mrs Simpson, 210

The royal progress round Moorea—The Seignelay starts for the Marquesas and Paumotus—Indecision, 226

Vain regrets—Some account of the Marquesas and the Paumotu groups, 236

Tahitian hospitality—A South Sea store—A bathing picnic—The Marquesans—Tattooing—Ancient games of Tahiti—Malay descent—Theory of a northerly migration, 267

Life in Papeete—The market—Churches—Country life in the South Seas, 286

Visit to the Protestant mission on Moorea—A sketch of the early history of the mission, 294

A healing tree—Plantation life—Vanilla crops—Cat-and-dog life—A foiled assassin—The tropics of to-day—England in days of yore—Among the crags—Infanticide—Heathen days, 310

Life on Moorea—An ancient place of sacrifice—Arrival of H.M.S. Shah—Hospitalities on land and water, 322

The atoll group of Tetiaroa, 335