LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



spoon dipping into the common dish ; our bed, made up 

 in the common apartment on the earthy floor, and con- 

 sisting of the blankets ('pillows ') which form part of the 

 appurtenances to a Chilian saddle ; these and many other 

 circumstances which I cannot now state gave a peculiar 

 zest to these Chilian excursions. 



" In Lima, Peru, the effects of earthquakes are every- 

 where apparent. Walking through the city, we see 

 scarcely a spire, among its numerous churches and cathe- 

 drals, which has not been shattered by earthquakes or 

 lost some of its architectural ornaments. 



(< Since leaving this coast we have been sailing among 

 the coral islands to the west and north of Tahiti. They 

 are truly fairy spots in the ocean, as you read in Ellis's 

 work on Polynesia. I would say something about them, 

 but the shortness of my page compels me to draw to a 

 close. 



' We shall remain in Tahiti a week or a fortnight. 

 We have just planned a jaunt to the summit of the high- 

 est peak and then across the island. From Tahiti we go 

 west, and by December or January shall be at Sydney, ( 

 to start on another polar voyage. ' ' 



TO HIS BROTHER JOHN 

 Impressions of Tahiti 



" SOCIETY ISLANDS, Sept. 16, 1839. 



' We arrived here on the I3th after a delightful cruise 

 among the numerous coral islands to the northward and 

 westward of Tahiti. These coral islands are truly fairy 

 spots in the ocean. They rise but a few feet above the 

 water's surface, and are covered with a luxuriant tropical 

 vegetation. On one of these, which was not inhabited, 

 the birds were so tame that they permitted themselves to 

 be taken from the bushes and trees, and flew about our 

 heads so near us that we could almost take them with 

 our hands. They did not know enough to fear. The 

 whole island was almost a paradise. These islands have 

 a circular or oval form, and consist of a narrow rim of 

 land surrounding a large lake. Some are fifty miles long 

 and the lake so broad you cannot see across it. Tahiti 



no 



