Kivi tells me that he still thinks of you and that he still goes fishing.
It is finished.
Kaoha nui, Mouth of God.
Letter from Le Brunnec to Frederick O’Brien at Sausalito, California.
(Translation)
Atuona, Hiva-Oa, June, 1922.
Cher ami:
You ask me what has become of Barbe Narbonne, of the valley of Taaoa. I will tell you briefly, and probably some of what I shall say you already know. She was married to Wilhelm Lutz, the Tahauku trader, in Tahiti, and all went well. Her mother was at the wedding, but not Maná, his long-time companion in Taiohae and Atuona. The married pair occupied the upper floor of the German firm’s big store. There was much gaiety among the Germans and her Tahitian friends. For the first time Barbe rode in an automobile, saw a moving picture, heard a band of music, and attended prize-fights. They were married at the first of July, and on the fourteenth was celebrated the Fall of the Bastille, with tremendous hulas, much champagne, and speeches by the governor, and even by the friendly Germans, such as Monsieur Lutz.
Hélas! The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the kaiser’s cruisers, came here to Atuona, robbed my store, took Jensen, the Dane, and steamed to Tahiti. When the authorities there saw them, they must fire a pop-gun at them, and provoke in turn a rain of six-inch shells. A Chinese was killed, every one ran to the woods, and many stores were set on fire and burned.