TAHITI. 523 



equator in the Atlantic, and has reached Europe. It is most 

 extraordinary that the bird has not established itself per- 

 manently in the Northern Atlantic. The genus probably, once 

 extended north in the Atlantic, as it does in the Pacific, for a 

 form possibly ancestral has been described by Prof. Owen as 

 Cimoliornis Diomedeus, a fossil bird nearly allied to Diomedea 

 which occurs in the lower chalk at Maidstone.* The immense 

 rapidity of birds' flight must always be borne in mind in con- 

 sidering their aid in distribution of plants. A journey of 4,000 

 miles, at 40 miles an hour is only four days and nights' flight. 



As the date of sailing of the ship was uncertain, we were 

 obliged to give up the attempt to reach Papeno Valley, and we 

 therefore returned to the native hut for the night. The sky 

 being remarkably clear, the thermometer sank at daybreak to 

 5o° F. (elevation 1,800 feet). We followed the Punaru Valley 

 down to the sea-shore, and returned to Papeete, along the coast. 

 I am much indebted to Mr. Miller. English Consul at Tahiti, 

 for his kindness in hunting up guides for me, and otherwise 

 assisting me. 



Mr. Darwin refers to the fact mentioned by Ellis, that long- 

 after the introduction of Christianity into Tahiti, wild men lived 

 in the mountains, whose retreat was unknown. The ignorance 

 of the natives concerning the interior of the island is still, as 

 shown by the failure of our guides, extreme. The guides living 

 on the spot, did not even know on which side of the valley to 

 attempt to scale the ridge at its head. The men can climb ex- 

 tremely well, but they do not seem to have any idea of thinking- 

 out a route and judging it as seen from a distance, which is the 

 real art of mountaineering. 



The natives are still grateful for favours, as in Mr. Darwin's 

 time. The older of our guides brought me just as the ship was 

 leaving, as a present, a fine stone adze, which he had been at 

 considerable difficulty to procure from Punaru Valley, where it 

 had been found in the earth, he knowing that I wished very 

 much to obtain one. The stone adzes are now scarce, and fetch 

 their full price in Tahiti. 



* " Trans. Geol. Soc," 2nd Series VI, Tab. 39, tig. ± " Quart 

 Journ.," 1846, II, p. 101. 



