SUMMER CRUISING IN THE SOUTH SEAS

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Post 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. net.

THE ISLAND OF
TRANQUIL DELIGHTS

"After a lapse of many years the author of 'Summer Cruising in the SouthSeas' presents the public with another series of South-Sea idyls. Of thefirst collection Emerson said—'I do not think that one who can write sowell will find it easy to leave off.' The prophecy has come true.'Summer Cruising in the South Seas' has become a classic in Americanliterature, and the sequel bids fair to attain rank alongside of it. Onemight fitly describe it, in Mr. Kipling's words, as 'a very tropic ofcolour and fragrance.' There is a haunting quality about these idylsthat must make them live in the hearts of all who read them. They arefull of charming word-pictures and of exquisite touches which tell ofdream life in fairyland—among the lightest, sweetest, wildest, freshestthings that have been written about the life of these 'summer isles ofEden.'"—Glasgow Herald.

"A pretty book with a pretty title. Glimpses of Paradise he gives inthese tropic pictures, and with something of idyllic grace he presentsthem."—Westminster Gazette.

"Delightful sketches and stories."—Times.

"Written in a leisurely style, and possessing a certain elusiveatmospheric style of their own.... There is charm here, and that of akind not often to be found in modern fiction.... 'The Island of TranquilDelights' should be read."—Standard.

"Altogether charming.... It is a book for quiet half-hours."—DailyMail.

"A delightful book—more than fascinating. After having read the bookfor the stories, one reads it again for the style."—Travellers'Magazine.

"A collection of idealistic sketches.... The author conveys thelanguorous beauty of the region very vividly, and the book is attractivefor the contrast that it offers to the familiar ways ofcivilisation."—Morning Post.

LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W. C.

S O U T H—S E A   I D Y L S

·SUMMER CRUISING IN
THE SOUTH SEAS·

BY
CHARLES WARREN STODDARD



A NEW IMPRESSION


LONDON
CHATTO & WINDUS
1905

PREFACE.

THE experiences recorded in this volume are the result of four summercruises among the islands of the Pacific.

The simple and natural life of the islander beguiles me; I am at homewith him; all the rites of savagedom find a responsive echo in my heart;it is as though I recollected something long forgotten; it is like adream dimly remembered, and at last realized; it must be that theuntamed spirit of some aboriginal ancestor quickens my blood.

I have sought to reproduce the atmosphere of a people who arewonderfully imaginative and emotional; they nourish the first symptomsof an affinity, and revel in the freshness of an affection as brief andblissful as a honeymoon.

With them "love is enough," and it is not necessarily one with thesexual passion: their life is sensuous and picturesque, and is incapableof a true interpretation unless viewed from their own standpoint.

To them our civilization is a cross, the blessed promises of which arescarcely sufficient to compensate for the pain of bearing it, and theyare inclined to look upon our backslidings with a spirit of profoundforbearance.

Among them no laws are valid save Nature's own, but they abidefaithfully by these.

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