168 DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLANDS. [1839. 



Huahine, Tahaii, Borabora, Tubai and Maurua. The first 

 two, with some small islands, form one cluster, and the others 

 compose a separate cluster, over one hundred miles to the 

 northwest ; but all lie betwoen latitude 16° and 18° S., and 

 longitude 149° and 152° W. 



Tahiti, the largest and most populous, is one hundred and 

 eight miles in circumference, and contains seven thousand 

 inhabitants, supposed to be not far from one half of the popu- 

 lation of the whole group. This island rises gradually from 

 the sea, and in the interior is mountainous ; extensive and 

 fertile valleys open on every side towards the ocean ; and 

 from the water's edge to its topmost heights, it is clothed 

 with an abundant vegetation constantly renewing the fresh- 

 ness and vigor of its appearance. Eimeo, ten miles west of 

 Tahiti, is about forty miles in circumference ; it is still more 

 wild and mountainous, and has an abrupt coast, rising in 

 some places precipitously to the height of twenty-five hundred 

 feet; it derives its chief importance from the fact that it is 

 the central station of the missionaries, where a separate school 

 for the education of their children, and a printing office — the 

 latter on a limited scale — have been established. 



IJlietea, or Raiatea, one hundred and thirty miles north- 

 west of Tahiti, is sixty miles in circumference ; it is encircled 

 by a reef of coral, bordered by numerous small islets, and 

 has a bold, mountainous, and highly picturesque appearance. 

 Huahine, fifteen miles east of Raiatea, is nearly as large ; 

 this, as well as the other islands, partake of the same general 

 features of those which have been described. All consist of 

 basalt and other igneous formations. Their rounded sum- 

 mits, and the character and composition of the soil, clearly 

 indicate their volcanic origin. Iron is so abundant on some 

 of the hills that the magnet cannot be used, and the sand on 

 the sea-coast is more or less impregnated with it. Olivine 

 and pyroxene are plentifully distributed through the rocks, 

 and lava everywhere abounds. 



(3.) From the small size of these islands,, it could not be 

 expected that they would contain any considerable rivers or 



