The Beach of Falesá

First published in 1892, this novella is narrated by Wiltshire, a British trader posted to a Polynesian island already dominated by a rival, Case. Case arranges a mock marriage with Uma, a local woman under a taboo that drives customers away, and maintains his hold through rumours of devilry and a faked spirit-house in the bush. Wiltshire remains with Uma in earnest and sets out to break Case's monopoly and the fear that supports it. Missionaries, beachcombers, and island politics fill the background. The tale is a first-person trading-station conflict, not a romance of the South Seas and not a travel sketch.

Bound in green canvas with a design in black by Hutton. Brown wood pattern or green slipcase.