408 TAHITI. [chap, xviil 



dinner. My guides had already procured a dish of small fish 

 and fresh- water prawns. They carried with them a small net 

 stretched on a hoop ; and where the water was deep and in eddies, 

 they dived, and like otters, with their eyes open followed the fish 

 into holes and corners, and thus caught them. 



The Tahitians have the dexterity of amphibious animals in the 

 water. An anecdote mentioned by Ellis shows how much they 

 feel at home in this element. When a horse was landing for 

 Pomarre in 1817, the slings broke, and it fell into the water: 

 immediately the natives jumped overboard, and by their cries 

 and vain efforts at assistance almost drowned it. As soon, how- 

 ever, as it reached the shore, the whole population took to flight, 

 and tried to hide themselves from the man-carrying pig, as they 

 christened the horse. 



A little higher up, the river divided itself into three little 

 streams. The two northern ones were impracticable, owing to a 

 succession of waterfalls which descended from the jagged summit 

 of the highest mountain ; the other to all appearance was equally 

 inaccessible, but we managed to ascend it by a most extraordinary 

 road. The sides of the valley were here nearly precipitous ; but, 

 as frequently happens with stratified rocks, small ledges pro- 

 jected, which were thickly covered by wild bananas, liliaceous 

 plants, and other luxuriant productions of the tropics. The 

 Tahitians, by climbing amongst these ledges, searching for fruit, 

 had discovered a track by which the whole precipice could be 

 scaled. The first ascent from the valley was very dangerous ; 

 for it was necessary to pass a steeply-inclined face of naked rock, 

 by the aid of ropes which we brought with us. How any person 

 discovered that this formidable spot was the only point where 

 the side of the mountain was practicable, I cannot imagine. 

 We then cautiously walked along one of the ledges till we came 

 to one of the three streams. This ledge formed a flat spot, 

 above which a beautiful cascade, some hundred feet in height, 

 poured down its waters, and beneath, another high cascade fell 

 into the main stream in the valley below. From this cool and 

 shady recess we made a circuit to avoid the overhanging waterfall. 

 As before, we followed little projecting ledges, the danger being 

 partly concealed by the thickness of the vegetation. In passing 

 from one of the ledges to another, there was a vertical wall ol' 



