1777- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 133 



days without interruption ; and is the only wind in 

 which the people of the islands to leeward come to 

 this, in their canoes. If it happens to be still more 

 northerly, it blows with less strength, and has the 

 different appellation of Erapotaia ; which they feign 

 to be the wife of the Toerou; who, according to their 

 mythology, is a male. 



The wind from south-west, and west south-west, is 

 still more frequent than the former; and though it is, 

 in general, gentle, and interrupted by calms, or 

 breezes from the eastward, yet it sometimes blows in 

 brisk squalls. The weather attending it is commonly 

 dark, cloudy, and rainy, with a close, hot air ; and 

 often accompanied by a great deal of lightning and 

 thunder. It is called Etoa, and often succeeds the 

 Toerou ; as does also the Farooa, which is still more 

 southerly, and, from its violence, blows down houses 

 and trees, especially the cocoa-palms, from their 

 loftiness ; but it is only of short duration. 



The natives seem not to have a very accurate know- 

 ledge of these changes, and yet pretend to have 

 drawn some general conclusions from their effects ; 

 for they say when the sea has a hollow sound, and 

 dashes slowly on the shore, or rather on the reef 

 without, that it portends good weather ; but, if it 

 has a sharp sound, and the waves succeed each other 

 fast, that the reverse will happen. 



Perhaps there is scarcely a spot in the universe 

 that affords a more luxuriant prospect than the south- 

 east part of Otaheite. The hills are high and steep ; 

 and, in many places, craggy. But they are covered 

 to the very summits with trees and shrubs, in such a 

 manner, that the spectator can scarcely help thinking 

 that the very rocks possess the property of producing 

 and supporting their verdant clothing. The flat land 

 which bounds those hills toward the sea, and the 

 interjacent valleys, also teem with various productions 

 that grow with the most exuberant vigour ; and at 

 once fill the mind of the beholder with the idea 

 that no place upon earth can outdo this in the 



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