White Shadows in the South Seas

by Frederick O'Brien

Overview

Vait-hua was all savage; whatever bewilderments the missionaries had brought had faded when dwindling population left the isle to its own people. In the minds of my happy companions at the vai puna, modesty had no more to do with clothing than, among us, it had to do with food.... Savage peoples can never understand our philosophy, our complex springs of action. They may ape our manners, wear our ornaments, and seek our company, but their souls remain indifferent. They laugh when we are stolid. They weep when we are unmoved. Their gods and devils are not ours. -from Chapter VII In the years prior to World War I, American author FREDERICK O'BRIEN (1869-1932) took a grand tour of the South Pacific, and the trilogy of books he wrote upon his return sparked a new thirst for all things exotic, far-flung, and gloriously "uncivilized." The first of these volumes, 1919's White Shadows in the South Seas, was a tremendous bestseller in its day, and no wonder. O'Brien romances the people and the culture of the island of Marquesas with this account of the year of drowsy afternoons and nights lit by mysterious moonlight that he spent strolling its sandy shores and basking in its island breezes. But O'Brien's is no mere travelogue: though he introduces us to beautiful young island girls with names like Vanquished Often and Malicious Gossip and discusses the vagaries of native cuisine and the time-measuring power of cigarettes, he also debates himself about the good and the harm done by Western traders and Christian missionaries and ponders the legacy outside influence will have upon the island. O'Brien offers a unique perspective on the South Seas cultures of old just as they were disappearing. OF INTEREST TO: armchair travelers, amateur anthropologists, readers of cross-cultural studies

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781517733315
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	10/22/2015
Pages:	140
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.02(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Frederick O'Brien was born in 1869 and died in 1932. He wrote books about his travels, especially in the French Polynesian island chains of the South Pacific.

Table of Contents

Chapter I
	Farewell to Papeite beach
	At sea in the Morning Star
	Darwin's theory of the continent that sank beneath the waters of the South Seas
Chapter II
	The trade-room of the Morning Star
	Lying Bill Pincher
	M. L'Hermier des Plantes, future governor of the Marquesas
	Story of McHenry and the little native boy, His Dog
Chapter III
	Thirty-seven days at sea
	Life of the sea-birds
	Strange phosphorescence
	First sight of Fatu-hiva
	History of the islands
	Chant of the Raiateans
Chapter IV
	Anchorage of Taha-Uka
	Exploding Eggs, and his engagement as valet
	Inauguration of the new governor
	Dance on the palace lawn
Chapter V
	First night in Atuona valley
	Sensational arrival of the Golden Bed
	Titihuti's tattooed legs
Chapter VI
	Visit of Chief Seventh Man Who is So Angry He Wallows in the Mire
	Journey to Vait-hua on Tahuata island
	Fight with the devil-fish
	Story of a cannibal feast and the two who escaped
Chapter VII
	Idyllic valley of Vait-hua
	The beauty of Vanquished Often
	Bathing on the beach
	An unexpected proposal of marriage
Chapter VIII
	Communal life
	Sport in the waves
	Fight of the sharks and the mother whale
	A day in the mountains
	Death of Le Capitane Halley
	Return to Atuona
Chapter IX
	The Marquesans at ten o'clock mass
	A remarkable conversation about religions and Joan of Arc in which Great Fern gives his idea of the devil
Chapter X
	The marriage of Malicious Gossip
	Matrimonial customs of the simple natives
	The domestic difficulties of Haabuani
Chapter XI
	Filling the popoi pits in the season of the breadfruit
	Legend of the mei
	The secret festival in a hidden valley
Chapter XII
	A walk in the jungle
	The old woman in the breadfruit tree
	A night in a native hut on the mountain
Chapter XIII
	The household of Lam Kai Oo
	Copra making
	Marvels of the cocoanut-groves
	The sagacity of pigs
	And a crab that knows the laws of gravitation
Chapter XIV
	Visit of Le Moine
	The story of Paul Gauguin
	His house, and a search for his grave beneath the white cross of Calvary
Chapter XV
	Death of Aumia
	Funeral chant and burial customs
	Causes for the death of a race
Chapter XVI
	A savage dance, a drama of the sea, of danger and feasting
	The rape of the lettuce
Chapter XVII
	A walk to the Forbidden Place
	Hot Tears, the hunchback
	The story of Behold the Servant of the Priest, told by Malicious Gossip in the cave of Enamoa
Chapter XVIII
	A search for rubber-trees on the plateau of Ahoa
	A fight with the wild white dogs
	Story of an ancient migration, told by the wild cattle hunters in the Cave of the Spine of the Chinaman
Chapter XIX
	A feast to the men of Motopu
	The making of kava, and its drinking
	The story of the Girl Who Lost Her Strength
Chapter XX
	A journey to Taaoa
	Kahuiti, the cannibal chief, and his story of an old war caused by an unfaithful woman
Chapter XXI
	The crime of Huahine for love of Weaver of Mats
	Story of Tahia's white man who was eaten
	The disaster that befell Honi, the white man who used his harpoon against his friends
Chapter XXII
	The memorable game for the matches in the cocoanut-grove of Lam Kai Oo	240
Chapter XXIII
	Mademoiselle N--	258
Chapter XXIV
	A journey to Nuka-hiva
	Story of the celebration of the fete of Joan of Arc, and the miracles of the white horse and the girl
Chapter XXV
	America's claim to the Marquesas
	Adventures of Captain Porter in 1812
	War between Haapa and Tai-o-hae, and the conquest of Typee valley
Chapter XXVI
	A visit to Typee
	Story of the old man who returned too late
Chapter XXVII
	Journey on the Roberta
	The winged cockroaches
	Arrival at a Swiss paradise in the valley of Oomoa
Chapter XXVIII
	Labor in the South Seas
	Some random thoughts on the "survival of the fittest"
Chapter XXIX
	The white man who danced in Oomoa valley
	A wild-boar hunt in the hills
	The feast of the triumphant hunters and a dance in honor of Grelet
Chapter XXX
	A visit to Hanavave
	Pere Olivier at home
	The story of the last battle between Hanahouua and Oi, told by the sole survivor
	The making of tapa cloth, and the ancient garments of the Marquesans
Chapter XXXI
	Fishing in Hanavave
	A deep-sea battle with a shark
	Red Chicken shows how to tie ropes to sharks' tails
	Night-fishing for dolphins, and the monster sword-fish that overturned the canoe
	The native doctor dresses Red Chicken's wounds and discourses on medicine
Chapter XXXII
	A journey over the roof of the world to Oomoa
	An encounter with a wild woman of the hills
Chapter XXXIII
	Return in a canoe to Atuona
	Tetuahunahuna relates the story of the girl who rode the white horse in the celebration of the fete of Joan of Arc in Tai-o-hae
	Proof that sharks hate women
	Steering by the stars to Atuona beach
Chapter XXXIV
	Sea sports
	Curious sea-foods found at low tide
	The peculiarities of sea-centipedes and how to cook and eat them
Chapter XXXV
	Court day in Atuona
	The case of Daughter of the Pigeon and the sewing-machine
	The story of the perfidy of Drink of Beer and the death of Earth Worm who tried to kill the governor
Chapter XXXVI
	The madman Great Moth of the Night
	Story of the famine and the one family that ate pig
Chapter XXXVII
	A visit to the hermit of Taha-Uka valley
	The vengeance that made the Scallamera lepers
	And the hatred of Mohuto
Chapter XXXVIII
	Last days in Atuona
	My Darling Hope's letter from her son
Chapter XXXIX
	The chants of departure
	Night falls on the Land of the War Fleet