VII

Rarahu and I spent the evening wandering aimlessly about the avenues of Papeete, or in the queen's gardens. Sometimes we loitered down an alley, the first that came; sometimes we threw ourselves on the scented grass among the thick undergrowth of shrubs. They were hours of transient intoxication which we never forget as long as we live—an intoxication of the heart and senses, spell-bound by the indefinable charm and strange influence of Oceania. And in spite of everything we were sad in the midst of our happiness at meeting again; we both felt that this was indeed the end, that very soon we must part for ever.