BAY OF ISLANDS. 197 



anchorage till the middle of the day. The coun- 

 try is hilly, with a smooth outline, and is deeply 

 intersected by numei'ous arais of the sea extending 

 from the bay. The surface appears from a dis- 

 tance as if clothed with coarse pasture, but this, in 

 truth, is nothing but fern. On the more distant 

 hills, as well as in parts of the valleys, there is a 

 good deal of woodland. The general tint of the 

 landscape is not a bright green ; and it resembles 

 the country a short distance to the south of Con- 

 cepcion in Chile. In several parts of the bay, lit- 

 tle villages of square, tidy-looking houses are scat- 

 tered close down to the water's edge. Three 

 whaling-ships were lying at anchor, and a canoe 

 every now and then crossed from shore to shore ; 

 with these excerptions, an air of extreme quietness 

 reigned over the whole district. Only a single ca- 

 noe came alongside. This, and the aspect of the 

 whole scene, afforded a remarkable, though not 

 very pleasing conti'ast with our joyful and boister- 

 ous welcome at Tahiti. 



In the afternoon we went on shore to one of the 

 larger groups of houses, which yet hai'dly deserves 

 the title of a village. Its name is Pahia : it is the 

 residence of the missionaries ; and there are no na- 

 tive residents except servants and labourers. In 

 the vicinity of the Bay of Islands, the number of 

 Englishmen, including their families, amounts to 

 between two and three hundred. All the cottages, 

 many of which are white-washed and look very 

 neat, are the property of the English. The hov- 

 els of the natives are so diminutive and paltry that 

 they can scarcely be perceived from a distance. At 

 Pahia, it was quite pleasing to behold the English 

 flowers in the gardens before the houses ; there 

 were roses of several kinds, honeysuckle, jasmine, 

 stocks, and whole hedges of sweetbiner. 

 R2 



