"The first experience can never be repeated. The first love, the first sunrise, the first South Seas island, are memories apart, and touched by a virginity of sense." -Robert Louis Stevenson, In the South Seas.

In the South Seas (1896) by Robert Louis Stevenson offers observations the author made during a voyage to the Marquesas, the Paumotus, and the Gilbert Islands in 1888-89. Originally written as a journal, the book that evolved from these notes went beyond an amusing traveler-centered description of his experiences to provide a more theme-based narrative, adding discussions of the South Seas culture, language, traditions, and society: anthropology, history, and sociology, together with personal impressions and anecdotes.