Dwellings of the natives. Appearance of the 

 women Dress of the inhabitants. 



TAHITI. 



Ta<te o! the natives lor flowi-rs. 

 Cookery and mode of eating. 



warm but not enervating, and is well adapted for 

 the enjoyment of all the pleasures of life. To this 

 climate the habits and pursuits of the natives are 

 well adapted, or rather they are its necessary 

 results. Their disposition leads them to the quiet 

 enjoyment of the beautiful scenes around them. 

 Their cottages are to be found in retired and lovely 

 spots, and are usually surrounded by neatly-fenced 

 enclosures. In these, which are often of considera- 

 ble extent, are to be seen growing the bread-fruit, vi- 

 apple, and orange, and sometimes extensive groves 

 of tall cocoa-nut trees. In one corner are the patches 

 of taro and sweet-potatoes. 



The cottages are of an oval form, usually about 

 fifty or sixty feet in length, and twenty in breadth. 

 The walls are formed of bamboos set in the ground, 

 with intervals of about an inch between them, for 

 the admission of light and air. To the top of these 

 a plate-piece of the hibiscus, a light and strong 

 wood, is lashed with sinnet. From this the rafters 

 rise on all sides, and meet in a ridge, which is about 

 half the length of the building. The rafters touch 

 each other, and are covered with small mats made 

 of the pandanus leaf. These are closely fitted 

 together, and lapped over each other, forming an 

 impervious and durable roof. The floor is the 

 natural earth ; there are no partitions, but tapa or 

 matting is employed as an occasional screen. A 

 building of this description may be erected for 

 about fifty dollars. 



The Tahitians use neither tables nor chairs. 

 Their bedsteads are formed of a framework of 

 cane, raised a short distance from the ground, 

 upon which a few mats are laid. A pillow stuffed 

 with aromatic herbs is in general use among the 

 better class. 



1 hesitate to speak of the females of this island, 

 for I differ from all who have gone before me in 

 relation to their vaunted beauty. I did not see 

 among them a single woman whom I could call 

 handsome. They have, indeed, a soft sleepiness 

 about the eyes, which may be fascinating to some, 

 but I should rather ascribe the celebrity their 

 charms have obtained among navigators, to their 

 cheerfulness and gaiety. Their figures are bad, 

 and the greater part of them are parrot-toed. They 

 are exceedingly prone to prattling, or may rather 

 be said to have a tattling disposition, for they can- 

 not keep even their own secrets. 



I have spoken of the incongruous character of 

 the dress of the females. Among the men this is 

 not as strongly marked as it is said formerly to 

 have been, and they are no longer content with 

 cast-off clothing. Those who can obtain it are 

 dressed in sailors' garb : others wear around their 

 bodies a wrapper called pareu, which extends to 

 the calf of the leg. This is now usually made of 

 blue cotton cloth, and with it some wear a cotton 

 shirt of gaudy colours. Others luxuriate in a pair 

 of duck trousers, and carry the pareu upon their 

 shoulders. 



The appearance of the dress of the women while 

 at church, has already been spoken of. On or- 

 dinary occasions, they wear the pareu alone, but 

 when dressed, put over it a loose dress, resembling 

 a night-gown, buttoned at the wrists, and confined 

 in no other place. Relics of their ancient dress 

 may still occasionally be seen in wreaths of flowers 

 around the head, and in the hair. The hau is a sort 

 of rim made of pandanus, and when it has flowers 



beneath, it gives a pleasing and rural look to the 

 women, to whom it also affords a convenient and 

 easily-procured protection from the sun. The 

 wreaths are usually composed of the Cape jasmine 

 and rosa sinensis, the latter of which is often stuck 

 through the lobes of their ears, and in their glossy 

 black hair. 



The natives of both sexes seem passionately 

 fond of flowers, but the use of these in dress has 

 been discouraged by their teachers, who have 

 taught them that such vanities are unbecoming to 

 Christians. I am at a loss to understand why so 

 innocent a pleasure should not have been en- 

 couraged rather than discountenanced. In con- 

 formity with this opinion, the absence of flowers 

 around the missionaries' dwellings is universal, 

 and cannot fail to be remarked in a climate where 

 the plants most admired in their own country, as 

 exotics, are of almost spontaneous growth. 



Cooking and eating occupy but a small portion 

 of their time. Their food consists principally of 

 bread-fruit, taro, banana, vi-apple (spondias), 

 oranges, cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, fowls, and fish. 

 They eat no salt, but employ instead of it a sort 

 of sop, made of sea-water, cocoa-nut milk, and tlie 

 root of the ti. Their mode of eating is somewhat 

 disagreeable, for the bread-fruit or taro is dipped 

 in the sop, and then sucked into the mouth with a 

 smacking sound, that may be heard at some dis- 

 tance. The vessel most commonly used is a cocoa- 

 nut shell. The children are fed upon poe, which 

 is made of bread-fruit and taro, pounded together 

 with a little sugar. The child is laid on its back, 

 and is crammed with balls of poe of the size of a 

 walnut, at which it shows its delight by flapping 

 its arms, kicking, and chirping like a young bird. 



The men of Tahiti care little about music, but 

 the women appear to be passionately fond of it, 

 and have very correct ears. Many of them have 

 rich contralto voices, and can descend to very low 

 notes, while others do not differ in this respect 

 from the females of our own country ; occasionally 

 one may be found that can sound exceedingly 

 clear and very high notes. Their voices accord 

 well with each other, and a party of four or five 

 will make excellent harmony. 



If they ever had any native music, it has long 

 been forgotten, and no other singing is now heard 

 but hymns and sailors' songs; you observe, how- 

 ever, a peculiar nasal sound, particularly in those 

 who indulge in the latter class of singing. 



The party despatched for the purpose of making 

 an attempt to reach the top of Orohena, consisted 

 of fifteen persons, including four natives as guides, 

 and an American of the name of Lewis Sacket, as 

 interpreter. This man was from the state of 

 New York, and was admirably qualified for his 

 duties. 



By the advice of the Rev. Mr. Wilson, the party 

 took the route across the island which follows the 

 Pappino valley. The distance on this line, to 

 Lake Waiherea, is no more than twenty-five miles, 

 while by that which follows the shores, it is fifty 

 miles before the point at which the ascent begins 

 is reached. None of the guides were acquainted 

 with this route, and it was therefore necessary to 

 find a person who was. For this purpose they in 

 the first place proceeded towards the eastward 

 from Matavai, for about five miles, to the mouth 

 of the river Pappino, which they reached about 



