238 Voyage of the Novara. 



which the Europeans might sustain at the hands of the na- 

 tives. As the procession approached the harbour, the Queen 

 bent forward to her driver, and asked him in a low voice 

 whether it was intended to carry her to the Carahus* The 

 driver turned off towards her own residence. As he turned 

 the corner, the Queen suddenly started forwards, and seizing 

 the reins from the driver with both hands, stopped the horse, 

 and looked whether her two sons were by her side. She 

 feared they would be taken to the prison, but they were 

 likewise conducted to her house. However, Queen Po- 

 rn are and all her family and attendants were cautioned not 

 to leave Papeete till the matter had been thoroughly in- 

 quired into. An intimation was even conveyed to the Pro- 

 testant missionary Mr. Howe that he must discontinue his 

 visits to the Queen till further orders. 



Under these cu^cumstances it is more than probable that 

 the persecuted Queen only made her appearance at the ball 

 in deference to the Governor's commands, and hence pos- 

 sibly she confined her conversation with the strangers to the 

 most common-place topics. The Queen was described to us 



* Carabus (Anglice Calaboose) is a corruption of the Spanish word Calabozo, a 

 prison. The Carabus of Papeete is a sort of pound in which drunken people or mis- 

 chievous vagabonds are confined, and whence they are released on payment of 5 or 

 10 francs. These mulcts or convictions form a not unimportant source of revenue, 

 and are of twofold demoralizing operation ; for while it is the interest of the police 

 on the one hand to make as many arrests as possible, so as to insure a larger sum for 

 division, the wretched, sensual Tahitian girls find in the prosecution of the filthy 

 trade that has brought them within the clutch of the police the best means of pro- 

 curing theu' release ! 



