bread--in case we got hungry,
for it is often a 'long time between feasts.'

"Everybody wanted to go with us, and, though the chief did his best to
hold them back, the little boat was so crowded that we were nearly
level with the water. As we went around by the windward side of the
island, it was a rough trip.

"I noticed that the boatmen were narrowly watching my mother as she
paddled in the water with her hand over the side of the boat, but did
not understand the reason until afterwards, when we found out that, a
little while before, a man had had his hand bitten off by a shark, and
another who was sitting on the edge of a canoe had had a large piece
of his thigh bitten out. The natives, being too polite to tell her to
stop dabbling in the water, preferred to keep close watch themselves
and be ready to strike with their oars if a shark should rise.

"At the first village where we stopped for the night we had a ticklish
job getting through the reef, for there was but one small opening, and
if we missed it we would be smashed to pieces. The wind was blowing
towards the shore, and the great breakers crashing against the reef
sent white spray high into the air. The boatmen were all pulling ropes
and shouting orders at once. It seemed as though we were driving
straight into the reef, and I looked on terror-stricken, but my mother
chose that moment to say cheerfully, 'I think I'll have a sandwich!'

"The last day of our trip we ran inside the reef, where it was smooth
sailing. Surely there is no mode of travelling on earth so enchanting
as this; we went gliding over the blue water, with a sea-garden of
coral, marine mosses, and brilliantly coloured fish below us, the
white sails bellying before the breeze, the natives singing, the shore
with its palms and little villages half hidden in green foliage
slipping by, the mountains standing high against the sky, while on the
other side of the barrier reef the surf pounded in impotent fury,
throwing up a hedge of white, foaming spray. We seemed to be part of a
living poem.

"When at length our delightful expedition came to an end and we landed
at Apia, we found ourselves confronted by a rather ridiculous dilemma.
My mother had not worn any shoes going over to Vaiee, which was quite
in keeping with native customs and more comfortable for walking on the
soft moss and lush grass in the damp, dripping woods, but it was
another thing to land in Apia at the hotel barefoot. She slip