190 TAHITI. 



little island of St. Helena remained under the gov- 

 ernment of the East India Company, spirits, owing 

 to the great injury they had produced, were not al- 

 lowed to be imported ; but wine was supplied from 

 the Cape of Good Hope. It is rather a sti-iking, 

 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 inte- 

 rior scenery, we returned by another track, which de- 

 scended 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 Tahi- 

 tians, 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 pois- 

 ing each step rendered the walk fatiguing. I did 

 not cease to wonder at these ravines and preci- 

 pices : 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 narrow- 

 ness of the gorge, profoundly dark. 



Before actually seeing this country, I found it 



