e
sewed-up mattress on top of the metal parts, and so deftly did the
Tahitians handle the oars that, though we rode the surf right up to
the creeping jungle flowers that met the tide on Atuona beach, I was
not wet except by spray.

[Illustration: Vai Etienne]

[Illustration: The pool by the Queen's house]

Our arrival was watched by a score of Marquesan chiefs who had been
summoned by Bauda for the purpose, as he told me, of being urged to
thrash the tax-tree more vigorously. The meeting adjourned instantly,
and they hastened down from the frame building that housed the
government offices. Their curiosity could not be restrained. A score
of eager hands stripped the coverings from the brass bed, and
exposed the glittering head and foot pieces in the brilliant sunlight.
Exclamations of amazement and delight greeted the marvel. This was
another wonder from the white men's isles, indicative of wealth and
royal taste.

From all sides other natives came hastening. My brass bed and I were
the center of a gesticulating circle, dark eyes rolled with
excitement and naked shoulder jostled shoulder. Three chiefs,
tattooed and haughty, personally erected the bed, and when I
disclosed the purpose of the mattress, placed it in position. Every
woman present now pushed forward and begged the favor of being
allowed to bounce upon it. It became a diversion attended with high
honor. Controversies meantime raged about the bed. Many voices
estimated the number of mats that would be necessary to equal the
thickness of the mattress, but none found a comparison worthy of its
softness and elasticity.

In the midst of this melee one woman, whose eyes and facial contour
betrayed Chinese blood, but who was very comely and neat, pushed
forward and pointing to the glittering center of attraction repeated
over and over.

"_Kisskisskissa? Kisskisskissa?_"

For awhile I was disposed to credit her with a sudden affection for
me, but soon resolved her query into the French "Qu'est-ce que c'est
que ca? What is that?"

She was Apporo, wife of Puhei, Great Fern, she said, and she owned a
house in which her father, a Chinaman, had recently died. This house
she earnestly desired to give me in exchange for the golden bed, and
we struck a bargain. I was to live in the house of Apporo and, on
departing, to leave her the bed. Great Fern, her husband, was called
to seal the compact. He was a giant in stature, dark skinned, with a
serene countenance and