OCEANICA: SOCIETY ISLANDS. 
205 
the goods from boat to warehouse and vice versa is facilitated by 
lighters at a cost of 5 marks ($1.19) for 40 cubic feet. 
The government warehouse is under direct care and supervision 
of the collector of customs, who keeps a record of all the merchandise 
entered and withdrawn, and at night an official is employed for its 
protection. The private storeroom owned by the Deutsche Handels 
and Plaptagen Gesellschaft is under the supervision of the collector 
of customs. Both the collector and the Deutsche Handels and 
Plantagen Gesellschaft have keys to the storeroom. Upon this infor 
mation I asked the collector if the same privilege would be granted 
to other merchants if they had the same facilities for storing goods. 
He replied that such a request could not be granted, and further that 
the Deutsche Handels and Plantagen Gesellschaft enjoyed this pre 
rogative long before the annexation, and as the present government 
warehouse was inadequate for the storage of the bonded goods of 
said firm, it was considered best not to undertake any changes at 
this time. 
Geo. Heimrod, Consul-General. 
Apia, Samoa, July 20,1904. 
SOCIETY ISLANDS. 
v (From United Stutes Consul I)oty, Tahiti, Society Islands.) 
At Papeiti, Tahiti, the port of distribution for French Oceania, 
there is a government shed, controlled by the customs authorities, 
in which goods in transit could be temporarily stored, but not 
secured in any way by the authorities against theft or damage. 
The capacity of the structure is ample for all emergencies in the 
immediate future. 
More important are the small warehouses connected with each 
of the large mercantile establishments here. The Government, in 
fact, accepts bond from the merchant and allows him to retain goods 
in his own warehouse, merely requiring that he report from time to 
time any sales of such bonded goods. There is no need of any very 
large warehouses under government or private control, as the goods 
received at this port are quickly distributed throughout French 
Oceania. Papeiti is a terminal rather than a junction for foreign 
commerce. Goods received are for this colony only. 
William F. Doty, Consul. 
Tahiti, Society Islands, August 25, 1904.