The place where I stayed was called the Flower Hotel. Mrs. Johnson was the hostess of the hotel and told me a regretful thing - the cause and effect of her missed opportunity. After Strickland's death, an auction was held in the Papeete Market to auction his own relics. She made a special trip for this because she was going to buy an American kerosene stove that she had already seen. In order to buy this stove, she spent twenty-seven francs.

"I saw that there were still ten paintings sold there," she said to me. "They were not framed and no one wanted to buy them. There were a few that cost ten francs, but most were cheap, and one for five or six francs. If I had bought those paintings at that time, I would have been a mob now, what a pity!"

But I know very well that Tiarry Johnson could not become a rich man in any case, because she could not save the money. Her mother was an indigenous woman in Tahiti and her father was a white captain. When I first met her, she was fifty years old, but she looked more than fifty years old. She was tall and strong, full of fat, and very majestic, but fortunately the expression on her face was always kind and kind. Her arms were thick and strong, like thick lamb legs. She was full of fat like cabbage. Her face was full of fat, and she looked very indecent, and there were several more.

The chin is almost hanging down to her chest. The clothes she wears most often is a thin pink jacket. She likes to wear a straw hat and wrap her hair tightly, but when she takes off the straw hat, you can see her proud hair - black and long, with small curly curls. In addition, she has bright eyes, which makes her look a little younger. Her laughter is very contagious. At first, it’s just a low laugh in her throat, and as the sound becomes louder, she trembles with the laughter. The three things she likes most in her life are wine, jokes and men with good looks. It’s my honor to meet her.

On this small island, she is the best cooking skill. She loves food from the bottom of her heart and is very knowledgeable about food. She often works from morning to night in the kitchen. There is a low chair in the kitchen, and she sits on it, giving orders loudly like a queen. A chef from China and a few local maids will obey her commands and make various dishes. If she respects a friend, she will cook for that person herself. This is her way of expressing her respect. She is a hospitality woman and never stingy with her kindness. So as long as she is here, people on this island don't have to worry about being hungry.

If there were tenants who had no money to pay the bill, she would not drive them away coldly. Once, a poor man was in a difficult situation and happened to live in her hotel. She actually provided him with food and drink for free, and did not charge a penny. Finally, because he could not afford to do laundry in the laundry, she put her own clothes and his clothes together and sent them to the laundry. She told me that she could not watch the poor man not wear clean clothes. In addition, he had no money to buy cigarettes, so she kindly paid him the money and gave him a franc every day. She was very kind to everyone.

She knew very well that she was no longer suitable for romance at her age, not to mention that she had a bad figure. However, she was very interested in love between young people. In her opinion, lust is human nature, no matter men and women, she always likes to use her own experience to enlighten and enlighten others.

"I was in love when I was only fourteen years old, and I was discovered by my father," she said to me. "The young man was the third deputy on the Tropical Bird. He was very handsome."

She sighed deeply. People usually think that women will never forget their first lover, perhaps she is an exception.

“My father is very reasonable.”

"What did he do?" I asked.

"He almost beat me to death. Later, he asked me to marry Captain Johnson, and I had no objection. Of course, Captain Johnson, although he was older, was also a handsome man."

Her name Tiarai has another meaning - it is a fragrant flower with white color. The name was given by her father. Locally, people believe that as long as you smell the fragrance of this flower, no matter where you go to the ends of the world, you will eventually return to Tahiti along the fragrance - Tiarai was very impressed by Strickland, and she would never forget this person.

"Sometimes he would come here. I often saw him wandering in Papiti. I sympathize with him. He was skinny and had no penny in his pocket. When I learned that such a man had come to the city, I immediately sent someone to find him and took him to my hotel for dinner. I also helped him find several jobs, but he always couldn't work for a long time. Not long after, he thought about the wild forest again. So one morning, he disappeared without a trace."

After leaving Marseille, six months later, Strickland came to Tahiti by sailboat. He worked and painted on the boat. When he came here, all his homes were just a dozen canvases, an easel and a box of oil paint. The only pounds left in his pocket were earned when he passed Sydney along the way. He rented a house outside the city. I think when he set foot on this land, he must have a feeling of going home. Tiarry told me that Strickland once told her:

"At that time, I was rubbing the deck, and suddenly I heard someone tell me, 'Look, what is that?' I immediately raised my head and recognized the outline of the island from afar. I immediately realized that this was the place I pursued for my whole life. Then our boat got closer and closer. I found that I seemed to have an impression of it, as if I had been here before. When I was walking around the island casually, I felt familiar with the scenes around me. I dared to swear to heaven that I must have lived here before."

"This place does have a unique charm, which makes many people linger," said Tiarry. "One others once told me that some passengers sneaked to the island while their ships were loading, wanting to take a short break for a few hours, but they never left the place again. Some people said that some people were sent to the island by the company and went back after a year. When they first came to this place, they hated it very much. When they were about to leave after a year, some even swore that they would never return here, but after half a year, they appeared here again. If you ask them why they came back, they would say that they found they could not live elsewhere."
Chapter completed!