300 TAHITI. [CHAP. xvm. 



to be sold, before the law came into effect. But when it did, a general 

 search was made, in which even the houses of the missionaries were 

 not exempted, and all the ava (as the natives call all ardent spirits) was 

 poured on the ground. When one reflects on the effect of intemperance 

 on the aborigines of the two Americas, I think it will be acknowledged 

 that every well-wisher of Tahiti owes no common debt of gratitude to 

 the missionaries. As long as the little island of St. Helena remained 

 under the government of the East India Company, spirits, owing to the 

 great injury they had produced, were not allowed to be imported ; but 

 wine was supplied from the Cape of Good Hope. It is rather a striking, 

 and not very gratifying fact, that in the same year that spirits were 

 allowed to be sold in St. Helena, their use was banished from Tahiti 

 by the free will of the people. 



After breakfast we proceeded on our journey. As my object was 

 merely to see a little of the interior scenery, we returned by another 

 track, which descended into the main valley lower down. For some 

 distance we wound, by a most intricate path, along the side of the 

 mountain which formed the valley. In the less precipitous parts we 

 passed through extensive groves of the wild banana. The Tahitians, 

 with their naked, tattooed bodies, their heads ornamented with flowers, 

 and seen in the dark shade of these groves, would have formed a fine 

 picture of man inhabiting some primeval land. In our descent we 

 followed the line of ridges ; these were exceedingly narrow, and for 

 considerable lengths steep as a ladder; but all clothed with vegetation. 

 The extreme care necessary in poising each step rendered the walk 

 fatiguing. I did not cease to wonder at these ravines and precipices ; 

 when viewing the country from one of the knife-edged ridges, the 

 point of support was so small that the effect was nearly the same as it 

 must be from a balloon. In this descent we had occasion to use the 

 ropes only once, at the point where we entered the main valley. We 

 slept under the same ledge of rock where we had dined the day before ; 

 the night was fine, but from the depth and narrowness of the gorge, 

 profoundly dark. 



Before actually seeing this country, I found it difficult to understand 

 two facts mentioned by Ellis ; namely, that after the murderous battles 

 of former times, the survivors on the conquered side retired into the 

 mountains, where a handful of men could resist a multitude. Certainly 

 half-a-dozen men, at the spot where the Tahitian reared the old tree, 

 could easily have repulsed thousands. Secondly, that after the intro- 

 duction of Christianity, there were wild men who lived in the mountains, 

 and whose retreats were unknown to the more civilized inhabitants. 



November 2O//J. In the morning we started early, and reached 

 Matavai at noon. On the road we met a large party of noble athletic 

 men going for wild bananas. I found that the ship, on account of 

 the difficulty in watering, had moved to the harbour of Papawa, to 

 which place, I immediately walked. This is a very pretty spot. The 

 cove is surrounded by reefs, and the water as smooth as in a lake. 

 The cultivated ground, with its beautiful productions, interspersed 

 with cottages, comes close down to the water's edge. 



