at times with their pipes lighted, the smoker at times submerged
and only the glowing bowl above the surface; it was stranger still
to think they were next congeners to the incapable Marquesan. But
the Paumotuan not only saves, grudges, and works, he steals
besides; or, to be more precise, he swindles. He will never deny a
debt, he only flees his creditor. He is always keen for an
advance; so soon as he has fingered it he disappears. He knows
your ship; so soon as it nears one island, he is off to another.
You may think you know his name; he has already changed it.
Pursuit in that infinity of isles were fruitless. The result can
be given in a nutshell. It has been actually proposed in a
Government report to secure debts by taking a photograph of the
debtor; and the other day in Papeete credits on the Paumotus to the
amount of sixteen thousand pounds were sold for less than forty--
quatre cent mille francs pour moins de mille francs. Even so, the
purchase was thought hazardous; and only the man who made it and
who had special opportunities could have dared to give so much.

The Paumotuan is sincerely attached to those of his own blood and
household. A touching affection sometimes unites wife and husband.
Their children, while they are alive, completely rule them; after
they are dead, their bones or their mummies are often jealously
preserved and carried from atoll to atoll in the wanderings of the
family. I was told there were many houses in Fakarava with the
mummy of a child locked in a sea-chest; after I heard it, I would
glance a little jealously at those by my own bed; in that cupboard,
also, it was possible there was a tiny skeleton.

The race seems in a fair way to survive. From fifteen islands,
whose rolls I had occasion to consult, I found a proportion of 59