ABSTRACT
Our absence had lasted just a month—the month of May, 1872. It was quite dark when the Reindeer returned to her moorings in the roads of Papeete, on the 1st of June, at eight o'clock in the evening. When, soon after, I set foot on the delightful island, a young woman who seemed to be waiting for me under the deep shade of the bouraos, came forward and said: “Loti, is it you? Do not be uneasy about Rarahu. She is waiting for you at Apiré, where she bid me conduct you. Her mother Huamahine died last week; her father Tahaapaïru died this morning, and she stayed by him with the other women of Apiré to watch the body.
