Excursion to Point Venus. 2,2^ 



Fautaua had been rewarded for his not very patriotic services 

 by the cross of the Legion of Honour, besides being ap- 

 pointed chief of the militia. His farm is very nicely man- 

 aged, and his daughters, elegant, well-mannered brunettes, 

 speak a little French, an accomplishment in which the Ta- 

 hitian ladies, notwithstanding their intimate relations with 

 the sons of ^^ la grande nation J'' are usually entirely deficient. 

 At Point Venus is a light-house, with an intermittent 

 light, visible about 14 miles seaward, in charge of an aged 

 French veteran {invalide). The tamarind tree is still pointed 

 out, which Captain Cook planted close to the spot where he 

 completed those renowned labours, which still single him 

 out as the greatest of Pacific discoverers. 



With the exception of those to Point Venus on one side, 

 and to the large villages of Fada and Papeuriri in the op- 

 posite direction, there are no practicable roads on the island. 

 On the whole, there are about 36 miles of road suitable for 

 wheeled carriages, — all travels beyond must be performed on 

 horseback, by which means the entire island can be traversed 

 in a few days. One of the most agreeable excursions, and 

 which well repays the trouble, is undoubtedly a drive to the 

 beautifully situate hill-fort of Fautaua, renowned in the 

 annals of the island. The first part of the road leads over 

 unsightly fields of guava (Psidium guava), first imported from 

 South America in 1815 by an American missionary, with the 

 laudable object of increasing the number of useful plants 

 upon the island, but which has since so entirely overgrown 



