Tahiti: Isle of Dreams

PREFACE OF the making of books upon the South Seas there is no end, and there probably will be no end for a long time. For example, a novel of Poly nesia as it is today has not yet been written, and should be. But of books about Tahiti in especial there might be thought to be enough. I thought so myself at first, but when I came to know the island a little I was not so sure. It has been written up from the geographical, the his torical, the missionary, and the romantic stand pointespecially the romanticbut of one aspect of it little has been said. A score of writers and artists of note have sought in Tahiti the fulfilment of. a dream, and I do not think that their dreams have ever been gathered together. Here, then, I make the attempt. That is the thread that holds these chapters together. A local photographer, Mr. William Crake, and I, have gone over the ground that meant so much to Loti, to Gauguin, to Robert Louis Stevenson, to Rupert Brooke and to many others, and for the pictures he is chiefly to be thanked. For the rest, I have not attempted to labour my point. But you shall see why they came and why the great majority passed on. May be some who follow will learn to tread more softly and maybe others, heirs of the civilisation which has reduced the island life to what it is today, will ask themselves a question which I know that I, for one, have answered in the negative. I. THE ISLAND LANDFALL II. THE PASSING OF A PEOPLE m. THE BOUNTY AND THE DUFF IV. THE DESERTED VALLEY V. THE SOUL OF POLYNESIA VI. NARI, SON OF RARI VII. GREAT LOVERS VIII. A PACIFIC SAGA IX. FAIRYLAND X. AN ISLAND VILLAGE XI. TODAY AND TOMORROW XII. THE LAST SUNSET XIII, AN EPISODE OF CHINA Keywords: Robert Louis Stevenson Tahiti Rupert Brooke Crake Loti South Seas Gauguin Fulfilment Missionary Preface Photographer Novel Long Time