196 Voyage of the Novara. 



already reckoning it the 19tli. The mode of reckoning at 

 Tahiti corresponded with his own, but only, it would seem, in 

 consequence of an alteration which had been made a few 

 weeks previously. In short, the mode of reckoning time 

 among the South Sea Archipelagoes depends solely upon 

 whether they have been approached in the first instance from 

 the west or the east by the navigator who has introduced 

 among them the Christian Calendar. However, so long as 

 the discrepancy is not too great, a conventional mode of com- 

 putation is employed, and one general epoch is used for all 

 groups of islands in or near the meridian of 180°. In any 

 case, it is a matter of indifference to the brown natives of these 

 island groups whether or not they correspond with Green- 

 wich at a given hour of a given day. 



On 4th February the look-out man at the mast-head sung 

 out "Land on the lee-bow!" This proved to be the small 

 island of Tubuai, of the Rorutu Archipelago, the inhabitants 

 of which at present seem to be likewise under the " careful" 

 protection of France. 



At length, on 11th February, we came in sight of Tahiti 

 and the outlying Island of Eimeo or Morea, after which we 

 tacked towards the latter, which we approached so closely 

 that we could quite plainly distinguish its singular serrated 

 outline, its precipitous crags, and its crater-like depressions, 

 as well as the thick, gloomy forests that clothe its secluded 

 valleys. Many of these pinnacles and steep rocky declivities 

 presented all the appearance of a series of colossal ruins of 



