‘l a, June: NORMAN HALL.
N these days,
about their experiences among the islands
it seems no more than fair that the Poly-
nesians be given a hearing with respect
to their own travels in America, For
they are not all stay at homes.
Occasionally one of these brow‘n
skinned Wanderers is to be found whose
longing to see with his own eyes the
Wonders'of the white man‘s civilization
has carried him as far as San Francisco.
They rarely go further than that, for to
them “Frisco” is America itself—the land
hem which come all the little luxuries of
life—tinned beef, flour, Bibles, kerosene
pil, perfume and corrugated iron.
It was at San Francisco, where I was
the guest of my friend Appleby. that I
first heard of one of these voyagers, 3
youth named Roaki, from the far off
atolls of the Low Archipelago. I had
fist returned from a year spent among
the islands of that group, and Appleby
was greatly disappointed when I told him
that I had not met the young Paumotuan.
"I'm sorry," he said, “for I should like
to know what he thinks now of a visit he
made to San Francisco last year. He
came here on one of our cargo boats
Which had put in at Papecte for water,
I don't know what he was doing at Pa-
eete. but in so far as I could learn he
Ead‘been there only a few days when our
Vessel called and he signed on as a mem-
ber of the crew.
“He hailed from an island—Ro—Rao——
some each name, and I believe this was
the first time he had ever left it. I met
him on the wharf on the day of his ar-
rival and he looked so lost and lonely
that I decided to take charge of him until
I could get him a passage back to the
Islands.
"My reason for doing this was not
wholly unselfish, however. Ilerc, it
seemed to me, was a chance in a thou
land to learn what a primitive man of
good native intelligence thought of the
trays of the civilized world. Of course I.
rculdn't know what he thought, for I up.
flcrstood nothing of his language and he
had picked up only a few words of
English.
“Well, I did my utmost. lie lived at
my house. He went with us to the the-
nicr and out to ihn country club; he even
lookcd on at scvel‘al littlo dances there.
lie rcde in trains, on elevators, in street
cars. lie saw everything: I could think of
to show him, and, by June! he didn't seem
lf‘ he in the least lmpi'cs will
“You might have thought he had been
born and brought up in San Francisco.
liow do you :umunt for this? My own
belief is that he acct-pied our marvels
without w: ndcr lmcmlsc they were so for-
blcn to amiiiixic in his rxpt‘l‘lcllf‘fl. There
Was nothing in his own life with which
to compare what he saw here. Neverthe‘
less, 1 would. like to know what he really
thonrm aim ut his visit, and what he told
his family when he went back home."
it t 0 fl
It nos my good. fortune later to gather
some information on this point. I had
occasion to make another voyage through
the Low Archipelago and as I carried
with me some ple‘er is for Roaki from
Apple-by and his family I decided to give
them to him myself if the chance came.
I traveled for several months on small
trading schooners which were picking up
copra and pearl shell. I made sojourns
at various atolls and at last was able to
take passage on a forty ton schooner
which was bound for Roahi's island. 3
One could call it an island only by
courtesy. The lagoon is fifteen miles long
by nine broad. but it is surrounded for the
most part by barren reef, with here and
when many curious
travelers to the South Seas return
with yet more curious information
Many Eonrists‘ Have Written What They
Think of the; Romantic Islands, ~'
Li-Iall Ifells Us; What the
Islanders maink of Us
"And the Mamma-Ruau,':with the remov-
able teeth, and Mari, the daughter. and
the two small children?" Roaki remem-
bered them all in turn, including the
household pets, 8. dog. a, pony and a
canary.
I was a little puzzled at first at some'
of his inquiries. \Vhom didrhe mean by
Appleby’s Mamma-Ruau, literally, the old
mamma or grandmother? The explana-
tion that she had removable teeth did
not enlighten me, but when he saidthat
the prepared the food for the family I
understood that he referred to Carrie, the
Swedish cook. And Mary, ths housemaid,
he had mistaken for Apple-
by's oldest daughter, and
Emma, the children's
nurse, for Mrs. Appleby
herself.
The real Mrs. Appleby
and an older daughter of
16 he had not identified as
belonging to the immediate
family. “Fetiis” he called
them, or visiting relatives
thinking evidently that
women of such ample
leisure could be nothing
else. I didn't take the
trouble to explain, for I
was curious to learn of
some of his other impres-
Eions.
He had not been unob~
servant. Applcby was en-
tirely wrong about that.
He talked from 7 in the
evening until long after
midnight. all the village
listening. commenting, con-
Jccturing as they must
have done scores of times
before. I regret exceeding-
ly that I can but briefly
summarize the story, and
that the scene at the toll-
ing of it and Roaki's man-
ner of narration must all
come from the imagination
of the reader.
It must be remembered
that Race is as far removed
from our world as it is
possible for an island to
be, and that of the people
who live there only Iloaki
had ever wandered beyond
the charmed circle of the
islands themselves.
“I shall never forget," he began, "the
kindness of Apati to me, a stranger on his
island, and if one day he should come to
Race I shall kill all my pigs and chickens
for thed’east of welcome to him. But I
am poor like the others here and the most
I could offer would be nothing to the food
I have eaten as his guest.
“One thing I saw clearly in America;
without money one may not eat. but all
have money there, so it matters not, and
Apati is very rich. IVe ate when and
where we would and never less than three
times a day, but where this food came
from and who it is that must work to fur-
nish it I was not able to see. _
"How is it that Apati has such great
wealth, for he did not work? The sun
was three hours high before he arose from
sleep; All of his family are very lazy ex-
cept the Mamma-Ruau and Marl the daugh-
ter, who came from sleep an hour after
° ms sem"?"“ monastic arm] simian
‘
Hg
:2“,
"Here I had but to turn a pleas
of polished iron and water came.
fresh water. but. I could not tell
from what source. There is no
lack of fresh water in America.
The rainfall must _ be heavier
with you than it is with us. But
I was sorry for Apati and his
family, who must always bathe
in a dish» andcannet rise from
their mats in the cool of the
early morning and swim far out
in a lagoon such as we have.
"Daily I waited long for Apati
to awake, but never was this
.n...
“Watching for a ship and
tourist visitors from America."
its
Above is James Norman Hall
to me. I watched
went from room to room
with the singing brooms. This strange
instrument groaned faintly, and as
the daughter moved it over the soft mats
\shich covered the floor. it. there were
bits of paper or other rubbish there, after
it had passed over them these were gone}
"Several times I threw small objectsin
its path and always they disappeared.
That it. was a broom I have no doubt.
although I could never understand so
strange a thing. I wish that you would
explain it to my mother, for she says I
but tell a tale to make sport of her.
Blooms do not sing, she says neither
does the dust of the floor disappear by
ex: c hantment.
"Neither will my mother believe that in
America much of the food‘ls cooked at
little stoves of: beautiful silver which
stand ‘on the table where one eats and that
time wearisome
Marl, who
o.
V.-
vmmavgy t”; “av“ .4 4....“ "w '
”“105”? for confirmation, so
that I tried to explain to his
mother the nature of electric
Cole}, percolators, egg poachers,
bread'toasters. dc. She listened
very courteously and then asked:
“Where does this fire come
from?"
“Through wires.” I said, “from
a great house where it is made
ready for many houses all over
the village of Frisco.“
“You see?" said l’loaki. "She
believes you no more than she
does me.‘ Sometimes I wish that
I had not gone to America, for
I.l)‘ people only smile when 1 tell them of
these things. It would have been better
Lad I never spoken of them."
Poor Roaki! I did what 1 could to bear
him out. but it was to little purpose, for
I had to explain by making comparisons
with things known to them. and this
was difficult.
"Even my father doubts." he went on,
”when I tell him of the great buildings
which are nothing but houses in layers
one above the other. to a heisvl. t ten times
izreater than that of our tallest cocoanut
trees. I have told him—how many times!
-that one rides from house to house
in a little car along a passage which is
like a street standing on end. I Show him
the picture of these houses and vet he
doubts that such things can be.
"No matter. We who have seen them
know that it is true. Apati took me. each
morning to one of these houses far above
Ronki's Father.
of the men while they were being shaved.
“At first I thought that men with fam-
ily troubles came here seeking new wives,
but soon I saw the women were trimming
the fingernails of the men and rubbing
them with cloths. Sometimes three peo-
ple were busy to make beautiful the man
in the long chair: one to shave him, the
woman to trim his fingernails and yet
another man who rubbed his shoes with
brushes. These men, I knew, must be the
highest chiefs of your island. but why is
i: that their fingernails must be cut by
women?
“Toward the middle of the day 'Apati
car. Then we went into the streets and
walked far, looking at this and that. Al-
ways my mind was filled with wonder at
the things I saw, but alas! I could ask
nothing of Apati, for he understood notho
ing of my language.
“Once we passed a great store with
tables in the street in front of the win-
dows. Here were many things to eat and
among them I saw cocoanuts. I had not
tasted a cocoanut in many weeks and I
gladly took three, and when I turned to
go with Apati he had disappeared. I
hurried on to find him, but a man stand-
ing by the table rushed after me and
grasped my arm so that I dropped the
nuts in the street.
"The man seemed angry and spoke in
a loud voice. I told him that I did not
speak the American tongue. I picked up
the nuts and would have gone on, but be
seized my arm again. Then I saw Apati.
who was coming back to find me. He
laughed and gave the man money fur the
nuts. and with this he was pic-395i and.
brought me. a paper bag to ca "
"It was at this time that
how in America one must gi _. .
everything. I was surprised 1‘. :t :21 so
large an island where there is so r222. 31
food one must pay even for three carom
nuts.
"Apatl gave money for everything. The
money I have seen him give in one day
would buy flour for my family for a year
and the kerosene oil for my lamps and
the cloth for my pareus. I did not know
the value of your money and watched
closely to see if I could understand.
"Alas! I could not. Apati often gave
little for a great service and much for
a small one; “'e rode far in the cars
which go in the streets and for this he
gave but two little pieces of money. Some-
times at midday we ate in place where
hundred-.2 of people came. Here a beauti-
ful wor near
Women of
Roaki’s Island.
rtading many letters
from those who were
far away, perhaps.
“In one corner of '
this room there was
an object under a
glass globe more
curious by far than
the singing broom. It
made a sound like
the clocks which the
traders sell us, and a
ribbon of paper, cov-
ered with numbers.
came from the globe
and fell into a has-
ket. Sometimes Apatl
rose from his chair
and looked at the
ribbon. which moved
always out of the
globe into the basket.
"He tried to ex-
plain this to me.
he said, "Tika, Itoaki.’ At last I under-
stood. He meant to say ‘Tiki,’ which, as
you know, in our language mwns one of
the old heathen gods which were wor-
shiped before the coming of the white
missionaries.‘ ‘And yet this is strange.
for the missionaries tell us that, you have
tut one god. Are there others then which
we know nothing about?"
I hope I may be forgiven by the mis-
sionaries, but the question was fired at
me so unexpectedly that I was forced to
admit to Roaki the existence of other
“an...“
nan hung our hate. on books
the door—3nd for this service Apati gave
a large piece of silver. But if it was a
man who placed our hats on the hooks it
was not necessary to give so much. Why
was, this?
“\‘l’e had food at many cliil‘ermt places
at the nooniime when we were in the
gods in minrica And how could I have middle of. the village far from Apsti's
3 ‘ _ a. “q“ is )3 “are: ‘1 ' ‘
explained to him the nature and the func- “‘ f‘f' Pf" (”in L ,hHL“ .“L. Ate at the
“(ms of a ticker, that indispensable piece 1;“;th his friends 1It “Ulliil lime been
of equipment in a modern business office? 11cm." and we gone Heri- one“, ff" “’9
I assured him however that his friend we as much as we would and paid noth-
' , , . .
lllg.
I‘patl was a Christian and only ver)Y
rarely fell from grace and worshiped the
"Tika" ; and he was always sorry for it
afterward.
"I know that he is a Christian," he
said, “for there are many Bibles in his
house. In one room there was nothing
but Bibles. shelf after shelf of them from
floor to ceiling. These were in many dif-
i'crent covers. and some had pictures of
the saints. and of wicked men and women
or whom we read in the Scriptures.
"\Vhiie Apati talked with liisrfriends in
the pleasant room,” he continued. "I
looked out of the windows into other
rooms. which were opposite to the one
where we were, for this .great building
was hollow in the center, with the layers
of houses on all four sides of it. In one
of these I saw men who came to be
"But I will tell you something which
puzzled me very much and to this day I
dc not understand it. I had long been
wishing for a feed of raw fish, for you
know how much better they are when
eaten alive, freshly from the‘ sea. Often
at Apati's home we had fish, but always
cooked ones and my stomach ached for
the uncooked flesh. .
“One evening I went with Apnti to the
house of his friends and here at last I
was content to see that fish were to be
eaten raw. On a table there was a large
glass bowl filled with water, wave little
fish of a golden color were swimming
about. These were like the .‘ittle soft
boned ones which’we find in our lagoons
and I was eager for the dishes of salt
water to be brought that we might eat.
"i waited long. 11- L“, the others were not
and I rode back to the earth in the little
there a tiny islet covered with‘bcrub, giv-
ing root to a few isolated eocoanut palms
The habitable land is a mere strip along
the western side of the lagoon, several
miles in length, but scarcely 300 yards
across at any point. The village lay 0p-
posite the break in the reef, where the
boat passage is, and here the schooner
came to anchor, close in shore‘, witsin 3.
few yards of Roaki's home.
I can imagine from the warmth of the
welcome given me as a friend of Applehy
the reception he himself would have had
at Raeo. “Apati” they called him, this
being the nearest approach they :02. Id
make to the English pronunciation. The
forty inhabitants of the :liro knew him
by name ani they would have known him
by sixht as well. for his photograph.
which had been framed in polish-2d pear.
shell. hung on a well over Roaki's bed.
Beneath it was a picture postcard of
Market street in San Francisco. the scene
of many of Roaki's adventures. A family
least was given on the evening of my ar-l
rival and not until it was over and the
rest of the village had assembled at his
house did Roaki. in the deliberate Paumo—
tuan way, ask for news of his American
friends.
"Apati-Tane (Appleby the man); was
. The well?” leassured bimetbat he was and
that he'often spoke of his friend Roakl.
"And Apati-Vahinc (Appleby the woman) ;
,he too was enjoying good health?"
“She too, I said, had every reason to
In grateful for abundant good health.
the dawn. It was Mari, the daughter, who
showed me the room where nne.lntMs in
a large dish.
FRICA is the “mystery" continent. It is there
that the most curious and unlikely animals
and human beings may be found—from real
giants, two of whom can kill and eat an' elephant.
to two toed monkey men, who live in treetops. From
the “cppo,” a specie» of antelope that climbs trees,
to the hippo horse, hex hipfipommus and half horse
that is a survival of a species of gigantic monster.
t._e fossil remains of which are dug up—in North
America. .
In central Africa; as in the great valley of the
Amazon and the hinterlands of the Guianas up in the
northeast of South America, there is in the dense
roof of the lofty jungle overhead another world, un-
known. unseen and forever far out- of the reach of
puny nzan, a world about which we know very little.
for it is populated by ahost of creatures that never
come down-to earth.
The' African natives tell strange and gruesome
stories about some of these living “things For in-
stance, they declare there is an animal, something of
the leopard kind but striped like a zebra, that cannot
face the daylight, so used it is to the twilight over-
head” Selous, the great hunter and explorer. saw an
7 apron .made of its skin, which was whollysunlike any
skin even. he had ever seen. ,_ This animal is particu-
larly fierce and agile, attacks the natives from behind
and then, having bitten them at the back of the neck,
sucks their brains out as the weasel does the blood
of a rabbit.
fire without smoke: is made in them by
only pushing a little button. ”
At this point Roaki begged me very
Queer Denizens of Africa’s Mysterious Jungles
"their-strength
others.
In the same part of unknown Africa a race of
tree beings are said to exist, who live in the tops of
the trees and are shelten l from enemies by the dense
YOIiage. These folk, two teed and claw handed, pass
from tree to tree with the ease and activity of men-
keys, and are of a particularly ferocious nature. Then
there are dwarfs in central Africa which live like wild
animals among the rocks and bushes. Their PTOjecung
laws and brottudlag li'ps. slender, ill shaped legs and
, protruding bellies give. them the true apelike appear-
ance They are singularly timid and fleet at the sight
of strangers.
As mysterious is the race of gigantic natives in
the unknown deserts north of [18.50 Nyiro and the
Lorian Swamp... East Africa. Thisstrange race is
known by tradition to the natives now inhabiting the
land west of the Jabs in the north and the Tana in the
south. Their nani'e appears to be “the Maanthinle."
and tradition has it they are Christians and originally
came from Abyssinia,
Until pestilence and native wars broke them they
are- said to have cultivated large areas, used irrign'
tion to raise crops, owned camels and- lived in great
circular houses, the huge stones of which testify to
Their hoes, it has been stated. were
80- and strong that a local native of the priesent
day could not lift d'ne. Two of this giant race could
not «is; kill an elephant with spears but eat it up
flaw, '.
Just as the data: regarding these giants cannot be
:3: a .
IVhy he went there I do not.
know, but he sat for an hour or two in a
beautiful room talking with friends and
shaved or to have their, hair cut with the
, women in this house, who held the hands
denied, neither can data concerning the hippo horse
be cast aside merely because they refer to what ap-
pears to be a survivor of prehistoric ages.
A short time ago the press was announhing that
an explorer in Africa had been put to flight by a: weird
and formidable animal such as we come across in a
nightmare or a dream. The fugitive stated his strange
enemy must have had a. body more than t.~enty feet
long and of great girth, an upright task on its nose
and with the fore parts of a horse and the hind parts
of a cow.
An explorer, H. E. Lee, first encountered it, though
the‘natives have always spoken of its existence. He
was creeping into position for a shot at a hippo-
_ potamus when he saw in the background of the pool.
slowly and meditatiyely chewing water weed, the
strangest animal}. yet knownir‘dn its nose it carried
two very sharp pointed home or tusks, not curved
but sticking up straight.” The front of its head had
all the appearance of a hippo, but the cheeks and ears
and mouth were like those of a horse. It had a mane
of red hair. and while its upper body was that of th‘3
hippo, yet the legs and feet were those of the horse.
Its neck was not short and thick like a hiDDO'Sv but:
gracefully arched and elongated like that of the horse.
*Irsrtail: long'and bushy; wascevered withred hairs-
Lee shot this amazing animal and found it mess.
tired over twentyme feet in length With a girth 0‘
eighteen feet. Skeletons of a creature of similar build
have been unearthed in america.
scissors; There were beautifully dressed.
" other
so hungry, and so at last I asked Apatt
if I might have a lis 1. -1e was hiking
with his friends, but nodded .iis head and
smiled. So I ate one and found it very
good, although the water in the bowl was
not sea water, but fresh. Then because
there were many fish—more than enough
for all—I took another and was eating it
with pleasure when a woman Screamer}
and another made a great outcry.
“I thought they had been taken with a
sudden sickness, or that perhaps {hey had
seen the spirits of the dead 511 h as mile?
trouble my mother But no. i 91'1“ [:31
- . -: .. . a
the women were :i-zgzxtv ed u is i;
, .zcrs wrong. I Cc
knew I had done . ,. : ) d
not yet undei'sil. ( win}: it was. Sllsul
I have eaten bu: "He fiSh? 01” S-‘Ould l
hm \vniied u‘.l.l the others "it‘St liad
l-d. mv iricft“. if you
euten? I will i3? g
.-.,‘."'.:L1)~'J-
will ex: i'sin lili< s, for I do not u:
your clls l . :ns are strange to me.’
I did explain. I told him and the . me;
islanders the uses of goldfish in AmeliC‘
and the} thought it the funniest thing
they had ever heard of. What! Rebel
aw‘pets, ornaments? They coal'ln't be
lieve it.
I wish there were space engugh to tell
all of Roakl’s story; what he thought oi
our dances, for example, and what he be
lieved a. game of. golf was and a dozen
things.
enoug ll of it, I beliexe, to ve erlfy the old
saying that “Onehalf of the world doesn't
know how the other half lives."
But I have “at least told,
11
Norwalk Chronicler