Love Affair with Tahiti and Tattoos

Princess Moe

Mo’ Royalty

Princess Moetia Salmon of Tahiti also known as Princess Moe nursed Robert Louis Stevenson in 1888. He had TB. He couldn’t eat and he had a high fever. She fed him raw fish marinated in lime juice and fresh fruit; a version of Tahiti’s unofficial national dish, Poisson Cru. It took him only one week to recover and he was so grateful that he wrote a poem to the princess. Here is an excerpt.

..The town itself with streets of lawn, 
Loved of the moon, blessed by the dawn, 
Where the brown children all the day 
Keep up a ceaseless noise of play, 
Play in the sun, play in the rain, 
Nor ever quarrel or complain; 

It was not long I waited; soon
Upon my threshold, in broad noon,
Gracious and helpful, wise and good,
The Fairy Princess Moe stood.

"To an Island Princess"
Tantira, Tahiti, Nov. 5, 1888.

Infamous Andersonville Prison

Princess Moe was educated in England and France. She married an American ex-POW at the tender age of 27. He was one of the first prisoners to be sent to the notorious Andersonville prison in Georgia during the Civil War. He survived it. But, the war, the prison, and how his government treated him after the war left their mark on him physically and emotionally. He married Moe and took over her Vanilla plantation and pearl farms. They never had children. They traveled and had a good life together.