152 Journey across the Island of Tahiti. 



distance further on, of the bread-fruit tree. These were replaced by the 

 fine-spreading chesnut tree, (Inocarpus ednlis) called by the natives 

 " mape," from the bark of which a very strong cloth is made, called oa j 

 the miro, a wood not unlike mahogany, much used in boat building, 

 and of which the natives, under the direction of Capt. Henry, built a brig 

 of nearly two hundred tons burthen; the hibiscus; pandanus ; notto 

 mention the vi apple, guavas, bananas, plantains, &c. the latter of which, 

 although cultivated extensively in the low grounds, yet are natives of the 

 hills. Upon the leaves of the plantain f obtained quantities of a beautiful 

 reversed snail, the Partula Tahitiana of De Ferrusac, and a species of 

 Succinea. I now noticed with surprise what very excellent naturalists my 

 guides were, their nomenclature being most extensive and certain ; it 

 mattered not, however insignificant the plant or insect, I had only to ask 

 its name, when it was immediately given me. Suspecting that Fiope, who 

 was a clever shrewd fellow, did not like to expose his ignorance, I was. 

 afraid that he gave me names at random, and very soon put him to the test 

 by asking the guides separately, when I found them to agree in the specific 

 names, although they carried their distinctions of varieties to such a nicety, 

 that several, after a short contest, were left referable to a learned man, 

 whose name I cannot now recollect : in fact, to such minuteness are these 

 distinctions carried, that the natives generally reckon, and distinctly name, 

 above seventy varieties of the cocoa nut tree, (cocos nucifera) ; above fifty 

 of the bread-fruit tree, of which botanists only name two species, the arto- 

 carpus incisa and integrifolia. It is by a careful nurture of the dififerent 

 varieties that they manage to have a constant crop of fruit, each tree often 

 bearing four crops a year. Of the plantain and banana, the musa para- 

 disiaca, and sapientum, they name more than thirty varieties. Independently 

 of this, they have names for all the dififerent stages of growth and ap- 

 proaches to maturity of the fruit. 



Our road now lay up a ravine through which a vast body of water was 

 rushing with very great impetuosity ; the guides began the ascent leaping 

 from stone to stone like birds, often by their weight dislodging huge blocks 

 of basalt, which continued rolling and carrying before them, with increas- 

 ing power, all the loose stones in their way. I now found tlie great diflS- 

 culty, and at last the utter impossibility of keeping up with the natives, 

 and was obliged to insist upon a more cautious mode of proceeding, which 

 was adopted by taking advantage of the goat paths ;* nevertheless we had 

 to cross the stream, wading from knee to chin deep, and the latter so often, 

 that, after counting its repetition upwards of sixty times, I gave up the 

 attempt in despair. I ought to mention that we had had some continuance 

 of wet weather, which unquestionably had swelled the stream very con- 

 siderably. 



* Goat paths exist in great numbers, and the paths they form would generally be 

 mistaken for paths worn by man. 



