1835.] CEREMONY OF KUBBIXG NOSES. 407 



different grades of society : thus at Tahiti all were formerly obliged 

 to uncover themselves as low as the waist in presence of the king. 



The ceremony of pressing noses having been duly completed 

 with all present, we seated ourselves in a circle in the front of one 

 of the hovels, and rested there half-an-hour. All the hovels have 

 nearly the same form and dimensions, and all agree in being filthily 

 dirty. They resemble a cow-shed with one end open, but having a 

 partition a little way within, with a square hole in it, making 

 a small gloomy chamber. In this the inhabitants keep all their 

 property, and when the weather is cold they sleep there. They eat, 

 however, and pass their time in the open part in front. My guides 

 having finished their pipes, we continued our walk. The path led 

 through the same undulating country, the whole uniformly clothed 

 as before with fern. On our right hand we had a serpentine river, 

 the banks of which were fringed with trees, and here and there on 

 the hill sides there was a clump of wood. The whole scene, in spite 

 of its green colour, had rather a desolate aspect. The sight of so 

 much fern impresses the mind with an idea of sterility : this, how- 

 ever, is not correct ; for wherever the fern grows thick and breast- 

 high, the land by tillage becomes productive. Some of the residents 

 think that all this extensive open country originally was covered 

 with forests, and that it has been cleared by fire. It is said, that 

 by digging in the barest spots, lumps of the kind of resin which 

 flows from the kauri pine are frequently found. The natives had 

 an evident motive in clearing the country ; for the fern, formerly a 

 staple article of food, flourishes only in the open cleared tracks. 

 The almost entire absence of associated grasses, which forms so 

 remarkable a feature in the vegetation of this island, may perhaps 

 be accounted for by the land having been aboriginally covered with 

 forest-trees. 



The soil is volcanic ; in several parts we passed over slaggy lavas, 

 and craters could clearly be distinguished on several of the neigh- 

 bouring hills. Although the scenery is nowhere beautiful, and 

 only occasionally pretty, I enjoyed my walk. I should have enjoyed 

 it more, if my companion, the chief, had not possessed extraordinary 

 conversational powers. I knew only three words ; " good," " bad," 

 and " yes : " and with these I answered all his remarks, without of 

 course having understood one word he said. This, however, was 

 quite sufficient : I was a good listener, an agreeable person, and he 

 never ceased talking to me. 



