PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 299 



Jim, the interpreter, bringing me the queen dow- 

 ager's compliments, and " she would be much obliged 

 by a little rum," to qualify a repast she had been lfe 

 making on raw fish, by way, I suppose, of provoking 

 an appetite for dinner. We had missed her majesty 

 a few minutes before from the cabin, and on looking 

 over the stern of the ship, saw her seated in a native 

 boat finishing her crude repast. 



A few days previous to this visit Lieutenant 

 Belcher was despatched in the barge to Mirapaye, 

 in the district of Papara, to bring round a quantity 

 of beef which had been prepared there for the ship's 

 use by Mr. Henry, the son of one of the early 

 missionaries. In this district there is a lake and a 

 morai, of which it will be proper to give a short 

 notice, as the former is considered curious, and 

 foreigners are often led, by the exaggerated account 

 of the natives, to visit the place, which really does 

 not repay the trouble it involves. To convey some 

 idea of the difficulty of reaching this lake, Lieu- 

 tenant Belcher and Mr. Collie, who accompanied 

 him, crossed a stream which ran through the valley 

 leading to it twenty-nine times in their ascent, 

 sometimes at a depth considerably above their knees ; 

 and after it was passed it was necessary to climb the 

 mountain upon hands and knees, and to maintain 

 their position by grasping the shrubs in their way, 

 which indeed were, for the most part, weak and 

 treacherous, consisting principally of the musa sapi- 

 entum, spondias dulcis, and some ferns. 



" In this manner," says Mr. Collie, " after trac- 

 ing a zigzag and irregular course, and losing our 

 way once or twice, we reached the highest part of 

 the acclivity ; and then descending a short distance, 



