TALOO CHAPEL--HOLDING COURT IN POLYNESIA IN Partoowye is to be seen one of the best-constructed and handsomest chapels in the South Seas.

Like the buildings of the palace, it stands upon an artificial pier, presenting a semicircular sweep to the bay.

The chapel is built of hewn blocks of coral; a substance which, although extremely friable, is said to harden by exposure to the atmosphere.

To a stranger, these blocks look extremely curious.
Their surface is covered with strange fossil-like impressions, the seal of which must have been set before the flood.

Very nearly white when hewn from the reefs, the coral darkens with age; so that several churches in Polynesia now look almost as sooty and venerable as famed St.Paul's.
In shape, the chapel is an octagon, with galleries all round.