- . creasing numbers.
. r
"'coast of blue,"
. and
By CHARLES B. NORDHOi-‘F.
, Author of The Fledgling. etc.
HAD never heard of a. nature‘
. man until I met the species in.
,- . the fat-off islands of the South
«‘loas. Jack London's friend, Darling, ‘
was the pioneer. fifteen years ago. -
but since those in.“ his disciples
. have been drifting south in ever in.
In some respects
they resemble the better'sort of hobo.
The old fashioned American hobo
was apt to be-a; philosopher. with a
‘ chronicydislike of work and an eye
,for the ~beauties of the'woods and
fields. - The nature-man is a. kind of
) stationary hobo, a. dreamer. who_be-‘
lieves that life is too short to be
wasted in work and that the cure for
ali.iiuman frets and worries is to be
found in a life close‘to nature.
The civilized countries. like Eng—
land, France or the United States.
are not. ideal from the standpoint of
a nature-man. The winters are too
’cool. for one thing, and the wild
fruits and herbs, which should DI‘O-
vide the food of a true nature-man,
are not easy to find. Then, again.
the poliro are unsympathetic and
even in the warmest summer weather
the law requires a. man to wear a
pair of trousers and a shirt. The
South Sea lslunds, on the other hand
-—-—lf numerous books on the subject
are to be believed-offer the budding
‘snafure-man a paradise of sunshine
ind luscious fruits and good natured
brown people, eager to feed and en-
tertain a white visitor from beyond
the seas.
Brown from Dubuque.
In Tahiti a few months ago I ran
across a middle aged fellow named
Brown, who had decided to become a.
nature-man on the strength of what
he had read in the Public Library of
Dubuque, Iowa. ~
Brown had been a clerk in a gro-
cery store. His parents were dead,
his brothers and sisters scattered
over the country and his life had be-
come too dull and lonely for a man
of adventurous tastes. Because he
had no friends and nowhere else to
go he used' to spend his evenings
reading at the Public Library, and
one night the girl at the desk recom—
mended Herman Melville's “Types."
He began with Melville, Steven~
son and Louise Becke and ended
with 'fVVhite Shadows in the South
Seas." By that time he was making
inquiries about the cost of a passage
to the Society Islands and had begun
to save. By cutting out cigars, drop-
ping his insurance and moving into
a cheaper room he figured that he
could save nearly a dollar a day. It
took a good many months to do it.
and when he had paid for his ticket
there wasn't much left over. but one
By BLANCHE McMANUS.
HEY tell me America does not
use the word “villa" to des-
ignate a dwelling house. On.
the Mediterranean shores of blue.
"villa" covers anything that might
correspond to a. bungalow, a Maine
camp. 11 country house or just a
plain dWelling.»
\Vhen we looked for 8. little pied
a icrrc that should give us a resting
place between flights we came house
hunting to the paradise of villas, the
French Riviera, in climate and love-
liness 8. sister to California, and
historically much older and prolific
in souvenirs of the past.
As we knew the Mediterranean
like the inside of
our pocket. as the Latins say. we
knew thus where to go house hunt—
ing, also that the best way to salt
the tail of the homing bird along the
shore .of this saitiest of tideless seas
is to dribble along in a. motor ~ear
investigate any and all “A
Loner" or “A Vendro" signs that
any seemingly attractive and suit-
able house ‘might have placarded
upon its face.
The windings of charming high-
ways and bywnys are preferable to
unwinding the devious methods of
French house agencies, whose sum-
mum barium of an attractive offer
is a thirty room chateau with four
garages and one bathroom—whee oc-
cupied by a duchesg and thus sup-r
posedly suitable for an American
millionaire, were not for us.
_We didn't even find the one bath.
room when we finally came to the
loose end of a little string of road-
way which tied up to the front gate
of an old time garden facing an
ancient structure perched high upon
rugged rocks rising sheer from the
sen. .
The place pleased us; near enough
to a. small village for daily provision—
ing‘needs and yet in aucountryside
V5.1}i'nspoiled; tranquil for those who
“for, paper with words and pictures,
gut within quick motoring distance
of Cannes and Nice when one wished
5 uocisl, mondalno contact.
The renting was in the hands of
‘ )[onsleur lo Notaire, French middle-
min for all affairs of business, offl-
chi master of all comnfimlty cere-
1'19““.- Our notary was in a. neigh-
boring viii-go. We took our villa
seriously. purchasing it outright for-
lho very modest sum of 12,000 post-
W nines. the house and a hectare
{gamer-es) of land. mostly occupied
:w pictmuo rocks and century
gin/buried olive trees.
n- m an Ihould have 'ais-
W our villa with mast
'hg" moire properties on this
new flower whnded coast.
thus-salon it was to unlike the
2" I
morning-in the «tiny season he
stepped off the gangplunx at Papeeto;
carrying everything he hop in an old‘
suitcase and a. blanket roll. -
Builds His Hut.
The town wasrnot quite what be
had expected to and. but he was not
easily discouraged, and when he had»
bought some matches. tools, fishing
tackle and a. few provisions he.
started off on foot to and a. place
that suited him. '
On the otherside of the island.
about forty miles from the port, 130
found a spot to his liking in a lonely",
grove of cocoanut palms beside a.
stream that ran into the lagoon. It‘
took him a fortnightdo build a small
thatched hut—so amateurishiy con-’
structed that it made the passing
natives smile—and when it was
finished his little stock of food was
gone. It was time to think about
the food question—the bugbear of
all nature-men. Long afterward he
told me of his difficulties. .
‘ “I figured I'd live mostly on cocoa-
nuts and fish," he said. “It took me
a good while to learn to husk the
nuts. and by the time I had caught
on to it I was so sick of them that I,
couldn’t eat one unless I was starv-
lng. At first I used to try to chop
off the husk with my ax; I could
have split them, like you do to make
copra, ii' I had known enough. There
was a bunch of girls that used to
come to watch me. giggling and
laughing till I was mad enough to
take the ax to them. .
"Finally one kid took pity on me
and showed me how to drive a
sharpened stake into the ground and
husk the nuts on that. They were
always trying to tell me something:
pointing at the trees and shaking
their heads; later on I found out
what they meant. The fishing was
a. hard game. There are only two
kinds of bait that are any good—
shrlmps and hermit crabs. One of
the kids showed me how to make a
shrimp spear. but I never got so I
could hit them—they dodge too fast.
It was a case of hermit crabs for me.
and sometimes lt__took all night with
a torch to get enough for a day's
fishing.
Owned Whole Valley.
“I had no canoe and no way of
making one. An old fellow who
lived down the beach offered to sell
me his. but he wanted 300 francs for
it—and I didn't have 300 francs to
my name. “'lth a. canoe I could
have gone to the reef. or outside on
calm days, where they bite better;
you can't catch enough to keep you
alive along the beach. '
“Some days I'd come home with
only two or three of these little red
A‘The' _'
, fish-the size of‘your finger-Z Nothing
to eat but them and a. few hunks of»
raw'cocoanut. Hell! . There’s noth—
ing in this next to nature stufli
"Once, when I Was' pretty near .-
starved to death. I walked up in the,
hills to get some of these big red
bananas they call jet,- 1 used to see
natives eating them. It was a hard
trip, but I found where they grew
and carried down two bunches. one
on each end of a stick. kanaka rash:
ion. Close to the beach I ran into a
crowd of natives heading up the
valley; They stopped me and began}
to jabber and wave their arms, and
finally one big guy came up and tool:
my bananas away. They owned the
whole valley—there's nothing on this
island that ain't owned; Even the
cocoanuts.
"One day, when I was lying in the
house. wondering how long I could
last without eating, one of the girls
that used to jolly me came running
in. She was all excited, but I
couldn't make out what she was drivJ
ing at. except that she wanted me to
clear out quick. '
"Pretty soon a buggy stopped on
the road and four or five men got
out. They took a look at the house
with the pile of hunks outside the
door, and next minute they were
coming at a quick walk, looking kind
of sore. -
"One of them spoke a little English.
They had come to make copra on
their land. What business had I
‘roc‘erye’
' O
~ to build anhousegh‘ere and eat their:
r cocoanuts? If 7.: didn't move of!
., right away and'settle‘up for—what I
had mien they‘d get the» cons and
have me run in for tbefct- Chi! was
in bad! annual—ea francs assured
it up. when! made themund'efftandl
fleck: Fro
“ in Alaska or Nothernpanada he had
too"
. Heiwss an old Scotchman: azure~
than six fe'et tall. str'ong._fere‘ét and '
ruddypwith ”a' flowing White beard -
chat~covered his chest. . somewhere.
u . k.
a nature man in the South Seas.
u placer claim. which he worked dur~'
in: thorn'onths of the short Amtio
that it was all a mistake.
"They were good fellows: I stayed
on and helped them make copra-
They showed me. more about fbhlng
intwoweeksthanlhsdlearnedln
three months by myself. But I had
enough mature to'last me a. long time.
When the copra was finished I come
in town and got a job on the dock.
If I can ever save enough for a. third
class passage home I'm going to
beat it. Dubuque looks good to mei"
Poor Brown! One cannot help feel-
ing a little sorry for him; he did
his best to be a nature man. but he
was not fitted for the job. On a
neighboring island there was another
man. twice Brown's age. who made
a success of it; though he ends”
A Typical Villa on the
turning of its mellow pages a con-
tinual pleasure.
Just the sight of the timeworn
parchments which were shuffled be-
fore us at the notary's gave guaran-
ty.of its pedigree, while its outer
covering. its binding as it were, bore
the impress of most of the races of
the Mediterranean who through the
ages had halted here.
The oldest end of the house was
of great. square hewn. red porphyry
rocks, which I suspected had been
illched or: the paved Aurelian Way.
that first of great Roman roads
which paced oi! the leagues from
the golden milestone of the Roman
Forum, well preserved remains of
which could still be traced close to
our own door sill.
Buttressed up against this was
a middle section bearing the tool
marks of ecclesiastical architecture.
while the other side was probably
as modern as a hundred years ago.
Here was a deep loggla facing out
to sea, with square cut openings.
suitable for our rose bowls, and a
stone flagged pavement. On the gar-
den front was a white balustraded
terrace covered with a quaint
thatched roof of the wild bamboo of
the country. overlooking shaggy,
luxuriant masses of flowers and
shrubbery of an old garden. This.
with the ioggia, gave an open air
sitting room to suit every angle of
sun and every turn of wind.
There were eight _ampie rooms
With smooth. white walls of a con-
ventlike sobriety. theh- surfaces
unbroken by‘ornament or melding of
any sort. with. curved, grolned ceil-
ings in .the olderfiportions. All was
in alignment on the ground floor.
but there were alcoves and nooks
here and there, up and down irreg-
ular steps. The basement hall-
marked the house with antiquity. It
was reached on the water side by a
winding stone stair outside the
house, worn by the patterings of
many feet. This you entered through
an arched portal defended by a.
massive door of wood. iron studded. .
owning to a. key nearly a. foot long
which turned in its venerable lock
with a suggestive grinding.
Inside were many vaulted passages
and mysfvr'ous nooks. all cut from
the_solid ck, and. II the cellars
are to a house what a prologueis to
a. book. promised to open upwell and
sustain our interest- Hero was‘tho
curve of a. Rumour-rob, then. a
churchly prop; I expected goon or
late to find even a. Plimnlcun foru-
word. Later the story of the house
read even better than I had hoped.
ugh the villa had been long
untenanted needfiu "pairs were few
l
--a handful of new tiles to be in-
serted in the delicious rosy gray tiled
roof, showing waves of growth in its
rambling length: the painter. and
plasterer to be called in to give a
few fresh touches. The plasterer
and painter arrived wearing the garb
of their trades, long white unlocks.
carrying clam shaped baskets of
tools, working leisurely and inter-
mittently between many cigarettes
.and much laughter and song, disre-
garding entirely their recently es-
tablished eight hour day. taking a
two hour siesta in the shade at noon.
In spite of this the finishing process
made the cover of our book‘ a great
success. . '
The red stone walls of the older
part we left untouched. while the
rugged gray blocks of the remainder
were repainted ‘lth cement and
color-washed. Result: cream-tinted
walls and rose roof, flocked with or-
ange. against a background of tur-
quoise sky and sapphire water seen
through a vista of gray‘green, feath-
ery olive trees which cost purple
shadows over the corner-colored soil.
guiltless of the slightest blade of
gram—a chromatic medley. but sub-
dued.
The solid shutters and portals of
wood were a'silvery'gray. with here
and there the ancient walls banked
with huge bunches of white and yel-
low marguerites, with the long
trends of pink oieanders caressing
one of the gables. An ancient walk
,‘
-‘ic'7"t't"_
head covered a; spring of pure water.
Inside we left the pristine white.
ness. tempered only by rose colored
curtains. The flooring of some of
the older rooms was of white and
black marble tiles. In the later epoch
we trod over dark red square tile‘
_ pavement, while another of the sport-
ments had them of octagon shape.
The windows, of the kind known as
French. opened ,inward in double
leaves from ceiling to floor and were
formed of small panes of glass. Those
were only to be fasteneiby as intri-
cate a system of defense for night
as might be boosted by a feudal
chateau.
Came the question of furnishings.
These we carried out in the old
Provencal style. in which land of m-
mance our villa had grown and the
leaves of its story .book bsd.been
unfolded. Besides. in Frame. an-
tique furniture costs less than new
and is in every way much more de-
sirable than new. France for the old.
America for the new!
Provencal furniture is of two gen-
eric styles—fine finished. ornate
carvings of great ‘ also; secondly.
rough hewn, with crude. though in-
terestlng,. sculptured design. as if
whittled out with a. jack knife. But
both styles. of walnut or dark oak.-
are beeswaxed by me until almost
of an 'ebon hue, giving of! high
lights of gold and deep shadows of
blue. Both have enormous hinges
of polished steel and beautifully
A" w‘
2'"
"3 -
‘jv
friends. But when
summer. Each year. in November.
he traveled first class to the islands.
left his trunk at a. hotel. and boarded
o native schooner to disappear until
tho~ following May. He seemed well
provided with money. and though he
was courteous to the pamengers on
board the meal steamer. and bowed
pleasantly to acquaintances in Pa-
~ poets. be neither made friends no!
spoke of his own affairs.
(himuiandnotfnrfrom'l‘ahiu.
he had built a house overlooking a,
quiet cow. and therebe lived alone
for six months at a. otret'ch, reading,
fishing in the lagoon, hunting the
wild pig in the bills. He asked
chased locks of the same.
Our furniture hunt was a motor
pilgrimage. We captured the best
from many odd'nooks at many odd
prices, in all sorts of conditions and
from all sorts and conditions of men.
Nor did. we arrive. to insert 3 Gal-
licism. all at once at such an ap.
proach to a state of completeness
that we might begin to entertain our
we did they
turned for us some interesting pages-
in the book of our house.
It was the local savant. an anti-
qturian of repute. who told us that
our mungwssonooupartof
an ancient posting house of the
Aurelisn Way; and it was the cure
of the village Who throwrellgious
light on the ecclesiastical chapter of
ourrvilla book when he recounted.
after coffee one evening on the ter-
race, tho oldest legend of Provence,
that of the three Marlee of Judea.
who came to this‘hospitable coast in
on open boot. without soils or card-
agq, borne only'by faith. Afterward
tiny chapel dbl-mes were: built all
along the coast of‘ blue where the
holy women rested on their Journey.
This centrol'porflon of our house
was one of these old shrines. diverted
by the reverses of ,history into a
mere secular dwelling.
A local guide book cowbell our
ma‘“ mmtham been 3 Saracen
stronghold This fact was well ate.
tuted by the foundation stones .
themselves. suggestive of the pass.“
t
' ‘ i‘Celestine could not only'keep track
mu 'uque '
nothing ‘of the world. and, in return
gthe ryorld.gavozhim fthe peace no
I seemed" to' daiireu The ‘end ,wzns
A native. fishing on the
”lagoon one day. now. the old man.
'paddlfl footin" his canoe. tiemp. to a
coral mushroom. (and go overboard
enthusiastic; nature... men are -
f fikslyjo evade—in a tragic manner. ;. ‘
'. of he‘spoke. A - .,
' :Celestfne; ou'r cook. and'fihe kitchen
Wanted the. Roman lying. , Accords.
’15: j m‘ Freshen" tradition. "whether '
; ' chatean'or cottage; the kitchen "must
, always-be on ,theleft front oftho
suddenly. .
-_‘ .
with a spear in search of fish. Next
moment there was a shout, an up-
, arm. a. swirl in the water—that
was the last that any man saw of
the Scotch recluse. A shark had
taken him, the native thought, for
when he reached the place. the is.-
coon was stained with a thinning
cloud of blood. g
This was tragedy unrelieved. The
average nature man excites one‘s
pity, but is comic none the less.
For pure comedy, consider the band _
of middle class British seekers after
the simple life who came to Tahiti
shortly after the war.
The society was organized by an
extraordinary fellow whose name I
forgot: a. loan young man with
French Riviera
ing of the Turkish hordes this way.
with later interpolations of Greek.
traders as before them perhaps the
Phoeneclans.
One day. when on the water in our
little green boat. with its bright
orange sail. in viewing the rea: or
our house from the sea I pointed
out the outward slant of the walls
of our labyrinth of s. basement. the
unfailing hallmark‘ of the Egyptian
builder, who could never get away
from the lines of the cone. Yes. in
the time of the Pharaohs this cooler
coast of the Mediterranean was dot-
ted with the summer homes of the
elite (if-Alexandria and Cairo. We
were living in their shadow.
The garden that rambled down
among the brilliant tinted rocks of
motives and yellows gave testimony
of the passing of the Italians of the
Rennaissance, for its terraced paths.
bordered with giant aloes. lemons
and oranges. hedges ’of roses and
golden Danae showers of minwsa,
were laid out in geometric patterns
of small p'ebbles of many chromatic
colors in a most ingenious fashion.
Half obliterated were many - of
these embryo mosaics, , and we
amused ourselves by replacing. the
missing pebbles from the Italian »
motif. Our own little private beach
teamed with these‘ brilliantly hued
small stones. but by a. curious appli-
cation of French law not one of these
might we " ” at least not publicly
. to view, so We smuggled thém in a
few at a time. .
Our picturesque gardener. in
brown veiveteens. with a. red sash
around his waist. who planted flow-
ers by the curVes of the moon and
silt most of the time during the day
on the sunny side of a wall. related
-mysteriously that smugglers used
the cellars of our house as a hiding
place and that the scent of good con-
traband tobacco hung around them
gstml It wasproved' later that as a
smufisllng authority lie, knew
where-
house and command ,the gents-once
late. ‘1 bavo'always‘believed'that it
wastho homing of this point ofgvaw
on maul-7m; 7 1th), .1913 pool» -
son to lull
L . t1.
» from window out into
' my II-
as} charisma}, «then-en, chm. t’
mutually marmsuopll
* " brought—lam .
$8.89? eyes, Who Wore I.
“ and a oombinau‘m .
pongee silk, cut like a
mg I: *
at he.
novel-ails. He must win
as, £08,138} all the hogan. M
fallout thé Son 8933 all“! m
of Pierre '. ta! fin
A: It chanced, the mm:
for his Wild schema teredb!
high and dividends low- th ‘fi'a
‘the English bourgeois; imam
for a living on lnoom; ‘91:“:
_ large before‘ the “he 309
struggling desperately to “a a3'
ends meet. make 3|:
On the face of it, the
not lacking in a sort of . '3!
.. genuity. A dozen taming, In”? 1‘-
by a spirit of brotherly 52%
.to sell their possession; “9'!
money in a common fum 1'9
their backs on a sordid smut”
ful civilization . . _ mfi
toward a life of leisure in up“
nurous isles of the South at“
“be organizer had planned 1
ing. They would tray L A
glands, purchase a 13:23.02?"
:and and S;’¢‘:ld the r .1
their days in light toil (two km:
of work :1 day would be amnion:
hospitable tropics), ianlSpg:
with pleasant an-l improving m
atiorus. Clothing would be mngfifi
to a decent minimum; the“, “-0“
be no taxes to pay. no bills for
or food, or rent. The '=
would play in the sand oifi.
sheltered beaches, while their elders
thered fiowurs, composed 33.3323
or spent a few moments daily in.
preparing delightful mania;
meals. Attractive, no doubt, bass:
reality‘provcd less idyllic.
In due time their steamer (rage:
at Tahiti. and the members of m
colony marched down the mm
necessary to tell the rest. The;
combed the island from md to end
in search of land, and in the and
discovered what any bystanders-could
have told them in the nut plea:
that no considerable tract of am:
can be obtained. The organiz-
threw up his hands and min!
alone to the Marquesas. wheellhd
heard that all the natives mind.
Among the others the spirit :1
brotherly love died fast. Some :1
them took the first boat fin- Aa-
traiia or New Zealand; others; more
determined. purchased small pm
on Tahiti and hastened to tho been:
of Mother Nature—only to find L583.
for the white man. she had m we:—
come in store. One by mo £827
gave up and drilled away.
It is a hard game. on Brown re—
marked: I could advise no hind as:
mine to try the life of a m Sen
nature man. For the brown men a!
the islands, her true children. Na.—
ture reserves a friendly I“11130. 3'13
for the returning white In:
weaned from her ways 'r m
years ago, she has only m 209%:
grin.
—-.!2
has
tad,
urnns and two tall may},
guarded us from the outside and.
Celestine cooked us delicious Pm-
vencal dishes in brown We:
on the old clock work spit in 0103!;
hooded chimney.
But I often listened as We
detailed the romances of be com?
try. As all good cooks, the was
sentimental. One day one was 311*-
paring a. bouillababe and bold B a!
the lovers, pirates and m of be:
imagination.
"It was dons 1e boo can has:
began Celestine, as also m n
lively langouste, “when I. w
devil held high carnival fl well I:
this old stronghold. Bo was . hr—
ban, long pendant In“ and
carried a broad bladed south: as:
preyed on the white winged m
as they sailed past of! m a. verb
table 'ecumeur de m: a. mate. 8
beachcomber. .
"On one of his raids he had c.12—
tured a fair maiden. a m. mas-.1
and beautiful. She was up! a. pris—
oner and the monster tutored be:
to wed him, but her love: was to
rescue her. And because they was
both young and pure in their in:
the Trois Maries come to their 235
and propelled the lower! boat. 21’
their own had moved norms the 52:.
so that the pirate crew wold neither
see nor hear the apprmch of also
brave lover under their «walls. 1'39
‘ demolselle was thus able to w!-
surreptitiously by a seen: 881? 33‘:
escape" triumphantly. later the
wicked pirate was taken by his car:
men, who had mutlnlod. out to ref-r
dex- rock, there chained and RI: 3‘
die of hunger and thirst.”
Thus concluded Celestino with 8
' relish. while I shuddered 833M
at the~ barren red rock 0'1 a ‘2:
called stillthe “Tooth of tth M
“men our.” added Celestial. 'u 3"
a thing eatable grows on 1L 5° ‘-
uraily died." Such is the “If,“
formula. for romance in ll.
land!
I reflected that it tan-03
of people to make a. m 1'! 11
hot August night. I was finned
husband had gone to M met:
transparent blue of I m
, but below.- Where
"la-good the 0‘d ‘0“%
viii... {saw a small 503*- .:-
moved in the boat and " m.
ins’movement was “a W33
mm ite-pJeadins to out an”
beach. “All. however. we! too
hemmed plain”-
“has
The bootwnl the m
,, arms:
ablewifh
Norwalk Chronicler