Memoirs Of
p. 95 · Read in the full issue
A Tahitian
Chieftainess
)ne of the most notable books in endless stream of publications on liti is a slim volume called the emoirs of Arii Taimai”. It is able in that it is the only book 'Otten by a Tahitian.
RII TAIMAI (1821-1897) was a Tahitian chieftainess of great stige, whose family was connected h all the great figures of her nd, and whose life covered the day of LMS missionary influence, proclamation of the French tectorate, and, finally, the iblishment of full French ereignty.
Taimai did not write her moirs herself. This was done by American historian Henry ams, who visited Tahiti in 1891, I spent many hours getting a iitian’s-eye view of Tahitian tory from the old chieftainess. \.rii Taimai’s Memoirs (which lude a good deal of historical terial that Adams added from )ks) first appeared in an edition six copies in 1893. A second, arged and corrected edition of nit 20 copies was published in )1, followed by a German transla n in 1920, and a facsimile version the 1901 edition in 1947.
Sow, at last, there is a translation the people who should be most erested in Tahitian affairs—the ;nch. The translation has been oe by Suzanne and Andre Lebois. rhe Swedish writer Bengt Daniels i and his French wife Marie erese, who are domiciled in hiti, have contributed a valuable roduction, explaining in detail the aesis of the book.
Memoires D’Arii Taimai. Pub
led by the Societe des Oceanistes, isee de I’Homme, Paris. 30 francs.)
For Circumnavigators:
/ venturer’s Log, an attractively jstrated free booklet by Geoff Scott scribing a trip around the world P & O-Orient Lines, plus a spot touring on the Continent, has re ntly been published by P & O •ient. It is addressed to “the young d to the young-in-heart” with the ject of persuading them that they, o, can go on such a trip and write sir own Adventurer's Log.