Queen Teriimaevarua II.

Death In Tahiti

from Our Own Correspondent.

Papeete, Dec. 15.

ANOTHER link with the picturesque native government formerly existing in the Society Islands was severed on November 19 by the death, in Tahiti, of Teriimaevarua II., late Queen of Borabora Island, and direct descendant of the famous Pomare line.

The deceased lady was a daughter of Tamatoa V., late King of Raiatea, and a granddaughter of Queen Pomare IV., who reigned over Tahiti and the adjacent groups from 1827 to 1877. It was during the latter’s reign that the French Pro tectorate was inaugurated. Pomare V. succeeded to the throne in 1877 and reigned until 1880, when his kingdom was ceded to France.

A few kilometres from Papeete, in the district of Arue, there is a long point of land forming the southern arm of a bight into which the Pacific swell rolls uninterruptedly to crash on a beach of shimmering black sand. This is the home of surf riding from which, in olden days, the cult was taken to Hawaii.

Here, set amidst a dense grove of co conut palms and casuarina trees, is a low, rambling bungalow built upon land which was part of the ancestral domain of the Pomare family long before Cook dropped anchor in Matavai Bay. It was in this tranquil spot that Teriimaevarua II. passed the last years of her life since the political troubles in the Leeward group made her a virtual exile from Borabora, with only her memories and a few retainers to remind her of a past greatness. She was 61 years of age at the time of her death.

Surviving members of the Pomare family include Tamatoa, sole remaining issue of Teriivaitua, sister of Teriimae varua, and Mr. Norman Brander, and the children and grandchildren of the late Prince Hinoi, one of whom married Mr. Cowan, of Rarotonga, and has a large family.