me over her shoulder as she plunged through the water, called that
she would give the child my name. That afternoon she was sitting on
my _paepae_, a bewitching sight as she held the suckling to her
breast and crooned of his forefather's deeds before the white had
gripped them.




CHAPTER VI

Visit of Chief Seventh Man Who is So Angry He Wallows in the Mire;
journey to Vait-hua on Tahuata island; fight with the devil-fish;
story of a cannibal feast and the two who escaped.


"The Iron Fingers That Make Words," the Marquesans called my
typewriter. Such a wonder had never before been beheld in the islands,
and its fame spread far. From other valleys and even from distant
islands the curious came in threes and fours. They watched the
strange thing write their names and carefully carried away the bits
of paper.

"Aue!" they cried as I showed them my speed, which would be a shame
to a typist.

Chiefs especially were my visitors, thinking it proper to their
estate and to mine that they should call upon me and invite me to
their seats of government.