8o Concerning South Sea Islands iv 



' Then we threaded the reefs between Raiatea 

 and Taha, and worked out of a narrow channel into 

 the lovely blue sea. Deep sapphire blue is the 

 real colour of the sea in these regions when the 

 sun shines, in cloudy weather inky, Indian inky, 

 and purple, but always beautiful from the bright, 

 crisp break of the waves. From the Raiatea side 

 Bora-Bora looked like a gigantic ruined cathedral 

 with a stately gray tower, and ruined aisles, naves, 

 and transepts, with some buttresses still standing. 

 Round a long and dangerous reef we went, and 

 worked our way into a glorious harbour, with a mass 

 of rock about three thousand feet high at the end, 

 and noble basaltic cliffs standing out from a perfect 

 cascade of verdure. 



' Nowhere have I ever seen cliffs so richly green 

 as they are in these islands. There was a huge 

 church here and a black preacher in barnacles. It 

 was sweet to sit on a bench near the church door 

 and listen to the wind outside swishing through the 

 glorious bread-fruit trees and the strange, outside- 

 green -stemmed cottons, and to look out of the 

 window at the deep blue sea with the white foam of 

 the barrier reef for an edging. We went round the 

 island in the lifeboat, inside the reef, which was 

 about two hundred yards across, and almost un- 

 interruptedly wooded with hibiscus, iron woods, and 

 cocos. Every view of the great cathedral tower and 

 its buttresses was more lovely than the other. The 

 tower seemed absolutely inaccessible from any side, 



