A PICNIC 219 



together in the shape of a crown. Having arrived 

 at our destination we were in time to see the last 

 of the festal preparations made by the natives 

 for our entertainment — the removal of the sucking- 

 pig from the oven. The oven was a hole dug in 

 the ground and lined with large stones which had 

 been previously heated in a fire. Banana leaves 

 had been placed over the hot stones, then the pig 

 had been laid in whole and completely buried, 

 first with the banana leaves, and finally with a 

 layer of earth. Here it had remained for an hour 

 or more, and certainly when it was exhumed it 

 was perfectly cooked, and served up with plantains 

 it made a most palatable dish. We were given 

 several other native dishes, of which the most 

 choice perhaps was the famous " cocoanut salad." 

 This salad is made of the heart of the green top of 

 a cocoanut tree, and as each salad involves the 

 destruction of a tree, it is only prepared on a special 

 occasion. 



After a few days' stay at Papeete we were 

 invited to pay a visit to the village of Tautira, 

 which is reputed to be the most picturesque spot 

 in Tahiti. We gladly accepted the invitation, 

 and got under weigh early one morning. Steam- 

 ing close to the land we had a fine view of the 

 wild rugged coast, and of the high jagged peaks 

 with their cloud-covered summits. Many water- 

 falls, looking in the distance like threads of silver, 

 were falling sheer down the precipitous wall of 



