Pierre LOTI (1850-1923). 5 L.A.S. "Julien", [1872-1889], to his sister Marie Viaud-Bon; 13 pages in-8 or in-12 (an incomplete letter). Nice correspondence to his "dear sister" Marie, during his travels. [Las Palmas 1870, while he was an apprentice on the training ship Jean-Bart]. He went "to take a long walk on land, in a humid valley, between high green mountains covered with mist. It rained in torrents and I waded through herbaceous vegetation quite similar to our June hay, but three times higher, all wet and very exotic. I just came home soaked ... He speaks of his "brother" [Joseph Bernard, the "John" of A Poor Young Officer], who has just learned of the death of a young brother, and whom he must console: "I admire him more and more every day as I get to know him more deeply...". San Francisco May [1872]. He sends him by the Nereïde "a box containing drawings of Easter Island, so that you can pass them on, through Nelly or another person, to an illustrated newspaper of some kind; I would prefer the Tour du monde if it is still published; secondly the Illustration. There are documents attached so that she can write an accompanying article. "Among other things, I am sending you a notebook in which I had written, day by day, the incidents of my stay there, with details of exaggerated meticulousness. ... this country was until now little known"; he also sends "hieroglyphics ... These are prints I took from engraved pieces of wood, rubbed on them with a pencil. I don't believe that any specimen of this writing has yet been sent to Europe. ... This writing is called: Timo te ako ako. The people who knew how to read it are dead. " Valparaiso 18-30 July [1872]. On the return from Tahiti, a beautiful evocation that can be found in Un jeune officier pauvre: "This big bay, these gulls, these ugly red mountains, and these great snow-covered peaks of the Andes, I greeted all these people like old friends. - This sight revived many