Mystic Isles of the South Seas.

< fist published 1921; location: Tahiti and Moorea >

Frederick O'Brien (16 June 1869 – 9 January 1932) was an American author, journalist, hobo, peripatetic world traveler, and public administrator. He wrote three best-selling travel books about French Polynesia between 1919 and 1922: White Shadows in the South Seas, Mystic Isles of the South Seas, and Atolls of the Sun. A movie was made in 1928 of White Shadows in the South Seas.

< excerpt from Preface: >

(...) “Mystic Isles of the South Seas” precedes in experience my former book, “White Shadows in the South Seas,” and will be followed by “Atolls of the Sun”, which will be the account of a visit to, and a dwelling on, the blazing coral wreaths of the Dangerous Archipelago, where the strange is commonplace, and the marvel is the probability of the hour.

These three volumes will cover the period I spent during three journeys with the remnants of the most amazing of uncivilized races, whose discovery startled the old world, and whom another generation will cease to know.