closer to the water of the lagoon,
and the reef and coral banks were nearer. I allowed the horse to
go his own gait, and we jogged slowly, stopping to browse and to
consider the landscape. The beach was covered with seeds and pods,
the square-shaped seeds of the Barringtonia in their outer case of
fiber, tutui-nuts, cocoanuts, flowers and bits of wood, and objects
that would cause a naturalist to weep for lack of time. Our beaches
of the temperate zones are wastes compared with these, for not only
were the sands strewn with a vast debris of forest and jungle, but
animal life abounded. The hermits toddled about, carrying their
stolen shells, some as small as watch charms, and the land-crabs
fed on the purauand hibiscus-leaves. They are the scavengers of the
shore, eating everything, and thus acting as conservators of health,
as do the lank pigs of the Philippines. They were in myriads, rushing
about seemingly without purpose, and diving into their holes beneath
the palm-roots. Their legs, unshelled, are as excellent food as the
crabs of the Atlantic. In the water a foot or two away moved exquisite
creatures, darting fish, and sailing craft--Portuguese men-of-war,
and other almost intangible shapes of pearly hue.

The village of Vaieri is opposite the pass of Tapuaeraha. Far from the
capital, and from the distractions of tourists and bureaucracy, this
tiny group of homes along the beach was less touched by the altering
hand of the white than Mataica, its setting and atmosphere affectingly
unspoiled. There was a mildness, a reticence, a privacy surrounding
the commune that bespoke a gentle people, living to themselves. It
was almost at the end of the belt road, which virtually terminated
at Puforatiai. Gigantic precipices, high cliffs, and rugged mountains
forbade travel, and from a boat only could one see the extreme southern
end of Tahiti-nui Marearea, Great Tahiti the Golden, as it was called
by its once proud race.

Vaieri was environed by all the plants of this clime. They ran
along the road and embosomed the houses. Guavas and oranges were
tangled with bananas, roses, reeds, papayas, and wild coffee. The
blue duranta and the white oleander, the cool gray-green hibiscus
with lemon-colored blossoms, the yellow allamanda, the trumpet lily,
acacias, lilac ipomaea, tree ferns, and huge bird's-nest ferns mingled
with white convolvulus, and over all lifted groves of cocoas and the
symmetrical breadfruit.

In this surro