298 TAHITI. [CHAP. xvi 



this. In the evening we reached a flat little spot on the banks of the 

 same stream, which we had continued to follow, and which descends in 

 a chain of waterfalls : here we bivouacked for the night. On each side 

 of the ravine there were great beds of the mountain-banana, covered 

 with ripe fruit. Many of these plants were from twenty to twenty-five 

 feet high, and from three to four in circumference. By the aid of strips 

 of bark for rope, and the stems of bamboos for rafters, and the large 

 leaf of the banana for a thatch, the Tahitians in a few minutes built us 

 an excellent house ; and with withered leaves made a soft bed. 



They then proceeded to make a fire, and cook our evening meal. A 

 light was procured, by rubbing a blunt-pointed stick in a groove made 

 in another, as if with the intention of deepening it, until by the friction 

 the dust became ignited. A peculiarly white and very light wood (the 

 Hibiscus tiliaceus) is alone used for this purpose : it is the same which 

 serves for poles to carry any burden, and for the floating outriggers to 

 their canoes. The fire was produced in a few seconds ; but to a person 

 who does not understand the art, it requires, as I found, the greatest 

 exertion ; but at last, to my great pride, I succeeded in igniting the 

 dust. The Gaucho in the Pampas uses a different method : taking an 

 elastic stick about eighteen inches long, he presses one end on his 

 breast, and the other pointed end into a hole in a piece of wood, and 

 then rapidly turns the curved part, like a carpenter's centre-bit. The 

 Tahitians having made a small fixe of sticks, placed a score of stones, 

 of about the size of cricket-balls, on the burning wood. In about ten 

 minutes the sticks were consumed, and the stones hot. They had 

 previously folded up in small parcels of leaves, pieces of beef, fish, ripe 

 and unripe bananas, and the tops of the wild arum. These green 

 parcels were laid in a layer between two layers of the hot stones, and 

 the whole then covered up with earth, so that no smoke or steam could 

 escape. In about a quarter of an hour, the whole was most deliciously 

 cooked. The choice green parcels were now laid on a cloth of banana 

 leaves, and with a cocoa-nut shell we drank the cool water of the 

 running stream ; and thus we enjoyed our rustic meal. 



I could not look on the surrounding plants without admiration. On 

 every side were forests of banana ; the fruit of which, though serving 

 for food in various ways, lay in heaps decaying on the ground. In 

 front of us there was an extensive brake of wild sugar-cane ; and the 

 stream was shaded by the dark green knotted stem of the Ava, so 

 famous in former days for its powerful intoxicating effects. I chewed 

 a piece, and found that it had an acrid and unpleasant taste, which 

 would have induced any one at once to have pronounced it poisonous. 

 Thanks to the missionaries, this plant now thrives only in these deep 

 ravines, innocuous to every one. Close by I saw the wild arum, the 

 roots of which, when well baked, are good to eat, and the young leaves 

 better than spinach. There was the wild yam, and a liliaceous plant 

 called Ti, which grows in abundance, and has a soft brown root, in 

 shape and size like a huge log of wood : this sewed us for dessert, for 

 it is as sweet as treacle, and with a pleasant taste. There were, 

 moreover, several other wild fruits, and useful vegetables. The little 



