as only a _fatu-liva_ can. Flying at an immense height, in battle
formation, they began laying eggs with marvelous precision. The first
two struck the _wak-wak_ square on the nose and he screamed with
pain. The third, landing corner-wise, put out his right eye and he
began to thrash in helpless circles. The fourth was a direct hit on
my left temple. "Face-of-the-Moon" passed over the horizon into oblivion
whence he emerged to find himself in a tree, his brow eased with an
_alova-leaf_ poultice, his heart comforted by Daughter of Pearl and
Coral.




CHAPTER VII

Excursions beyond the outer reef. Our aquatic wives. Premonitions.
A picnic on the mountain. Hearts and flowers. Whinney delivers a
geological dissertation. Babai finds a fatu-liva nest. The strange
flower in my wife's hair.


As I look back on the months which followed I can truthfully say that
they were the happiest of my existence. The semi-detachment of our
island domesticity was a charm against tedium; our family reunions
were joys.

Often we organized picnics to distant points. With hold-alls of
_panjandrus_ leaves packed with a supply of breadfruit sandwiches,
sun-baked cuttywink eggs and a gallon or two of _hoopa,_ we would
go to one of the lovely retreats with which our wives were familiar.