{"product_id":"2940013703247","title":"My Tahiti","description":"For the water, shoaling under our board, became changed in a moment to\u003cbr\u003esurprising hues of blue and grey; and in the transparency the coral\u003cbr\u003ebranched and blossomed, and the fish of the inland sea cruised visibly\u003cbr\u003ebelow us, stained and striped, and even beaked like parrots. I have paid\u003cbr\u003ein my time to view many curiosities; never one so curious as that first\u003cbr\u003esight over the ship's rail in the lagoon of Fakarava.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe room was cold and damp, the air tainted with the musty smell of\u003cbr\u003eformer inhabitants; the ceiling was cracked, the wallpaper faded, and\u003cbr\u003estained in streaks of yellow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA streetcar clattered past, the last one of the night; from far across\u003cbr\u003ethe city I could hear the whistle of an engine as it pulled into the\u003cbr\u003eyards. In another hour the early morning train would leave for San\u003cbr\u003eFrancisco--a port of departure! The thought was troubling. The smell of\u003cbr\u003ethe room nauseated me. I could hear Anderson, who worked with me on the\u003cbr\u003eMorning Republican, breathing heavily in the room next to mine. The damp\u003cbr\u003ecold settled on my face and hands, and crept under the covers to give a\u003cbr\u003eclammy feeling to my skin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI turned over a few pages and read:--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut it was most of all on board, in the dead hours, when I had been\u003cbr\u003ebetter sleeping, that the spell of Fakarava seized and held me. The moon\u003cbr\u003ewas down. The harbour lantern and two of the greater planets drew\u003cbr\u003evaricolored wakes on the lagoon. From shore the cheerful watch-cry of\u003cbr\u003ecocks rang out at intervals above the organ-point of surf. And the\u003cbr\u003ethought of this depopulated capital, this protracted thread of annular\u003cbr\u003eisland with its crest of coco-palms and fringe of breakers, and that\u003cbr\u003etranquil inland sea that stretched before me till it touched the stars,\u003cbr\u003eran in my head for hours with delight.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNukuhiva, Apemama, Fakarava! Those islands that Stevenson had sketched so\u003cbr\u003edeftly that I could close my eyes for the moment and forget the\u003cbr\u003ecolorlessness of civilized life while visualizing fans of coconut palms\u003cbr\u003ewaving before the fresh south-east trade, moonlight glinting on long\u003cbr\u003ecoral strands; and seem to hear even the distant mutter of the surf\u003cbr\u003epounding along the barrier reef!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn island attracts one strangely and inexplicably. In our youngest days\u003cbr\u003efew pleasures have been so great as exploring some tiny bank formed by\u003cbr\u003ethe forking of a stream, or of dreaming that some day we shall sail to an\u003cbr\u003eisland in the\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e. . . moonlit solitudes mild\u003cbr\u003eOf the mid-most ocean . . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd as we grow older the fascination is not lost. Any man with a spark of\u003cbr\u003epoetry in his soul will stand on the deck of a ship to stare, captivated,\u003cbr\u003eat an island, while a mainland, even though it be more beautiful, will\u003cbr\u003ecommand but a passing glance.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073831354608,"sku":"2940013703247","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013703247_p0.jpg?v=1763584496","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013703247","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}