[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

196 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

when buying necessaries, he is careless enough when
luxuries are in question.

The house of the planters is a long, low building
with whitewashed walls, a broad, flat roof and wide
verandas. Around it is an abandoned garden, and
one feels that long ago a woman’s hand must have
worked here; but now no one cares about keeping
the surroundings clean and pretty, and the wilderness
is reclaiming its own and advancing steadily towards
the house. Inside, the house is clean and neat; from
the veranda there is a splendid View over the sea, in
which the sun disappears at evening.

The employés are quiet people, who have but
little to say; the weather and speculations as to the
name and destination of some far-off sail are their
chief topics. After lunch they sit in easy-chairs,
enjoying the breeze and reading the papers; Soon
the “ Bubu ” calls to work once more, and the natives
come creeping out of their huts, away from their ever-
burning fires.

The production of coprah varies greatly on the
different islands. While on some of them there is
scarcely any to be had, there are others which are
practically covered with cocoa—nut trees ; this is chiefly
the case on islands of volcanic origin, on which springs
and rivers are very scarce. It has been supposed that
the natives, being dependent on the water of the
cocoa-nut as a beverage, had planted these trees very
extensively. This is not quite exact, although it is a
fact that in these islands the natives hardly ever taste
any other water than that of the cocoa—nut.