The Two Vahines, According To The Way Of Vahines, Got Together
In A Discussion And Examination Of Feminine Fripperies, While Tehei
And I, Manlike, Went Over Fishing-Tackle And Wild-Pig-Hunting, To
Say Nothing Of The Device Whereby Bonitas Are Caught On Forty-Foot
Poles From Double Canoes.
Charmian admired a sewing basket - the
best example she had seen of Polynesian basketry; it was hers.
I
admired a bonita hook, carved in one piece from a pearl-shell; it
was mine. Charmian was attracted by a fancy braid of straw sennit,
thirty feet of it in a roll, sufficient to make a hat of any design
one wished; the roll of sennit was hers. My gaze lingered upon a
poi-pounder that dated back to the old stone days; it was mine.
Charmian dwelt a moment too long on a wooden poi-bowl, canoe-shaped,
with four legs, all carved in one piece of wood; it was hers. I
glanced a second time at a gigantic cocoanut calabash; it was mine.
Then Charmian and I held a conference in which we resolved to admire
no more - not because it did not pay well enough, but because it paid
too well. Also, we were already racking our brains over the
contents of the Snark for suitable return presents. Christmas is an
easy problem compared with a Polynesian giving-feast.
We sat on the cool porch, on Bihaura's best mats while dinner was
preparing, and at the same time met the villagers.
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