The missionaries cited
this as a parable of Christianity, which would save from damnation
the convert no matter how fungusy he was with sin. In tribal wars the
enemy laid a sea-slug at the heart of the maori, and, its foe unseen,
the tree perished from the corruption of the hideous trepang.

Papeari, the next district west of Mataiea, was well watered, as its
name signified, and we passed cows and sheep and horses grazing under
the trees or in pastures of lush grass. Swamps had been ditched and
drained, and there was evidence of unusual energy in agriculture. The
country gained in tropical aspect as we approached the narrow strip of
land which is the nexus of Tahiti-nui and Tahiti-iti, of the blade and
the handle of the fan. Tahitian mythology does not agree with geology,
any more than does the catechism; for though the scientists aver that
these separate isles were not united until ages after their formation,
a legend ran that at one time the union was complete, but that a
sea-god conceived a hatred for the inhabitants of the Presqu'ile of
Taiarapu, the fearless clans of the Teva-i-tai and the Te-Ahupo.

One very dark night when the moon was in the ocean cavern of this
evil Atua, he began his horrid labors to sever the tie. He smote the
rocks from the foundations, and the people heard in terror throughout
the night the thunders of his blows. He had almost achieved his task
when the goodly sun-god appeared over the mountains far in advance
of his usual time, and blinded the Titan so that he sought safety
beneath the ocean. Tatini showed me the fearful signs of the demon's
fury. Monstrous masses of rock were in the sea, and the isthmus
was reduced to a mere mile of width, an extensive bay filling the
demolished area. The deep inlet of Port Phaeton swept in there like
the Gulf of Corinth in Greece. All this peninsula of Taiarapu was
ceded to Captain Cook. He called it Tiaraboo in his journal, but he
never took possession of his principality, realizing that the cession
was in the fashion of the Spaniard who says, "All I have is yours,"
but would think you unmannerly to carry away anything of value.

Port Phaeton is famed in the annals of the early French conquerors, for
in it they anchored their warships, and the Paris chauvinists dreamed
of a navy-yard and a large settlement there. On the plateau of Taravao,
a hilltop raised fifty feet, is an old fort of the French, a solid
construction against the stubborn Tahitians w