84 



Ascent of Mount Aorai. 



TAHITI AND EIMEO. 



Absence of corals and screw-shells on 

 Aorai. Manufactures of Tahiti. 



which is used in tattooing, is very common all over 

 the island. 



Tobacco is grown in small quantities. 



Mr. Henry informed me that grapes succeeded 

 well on the south-east side of the island. 



The price of labour is from two to four dollars a 

 month, but for occasional labour fifty cents a day is 

 usually paid. 



Wild hogs are said to be numerous in the moun- 

 tain region ; none of our parties, however, met 

 any. Horses are possessed by many persons on 

 the island, and goats were seen. Dogs and cats 

 were abundant. The island is well supplied with 

 cattle ; they are suffered to run wild, and frequtnt 

 the neighbourhood of the hills, whither they are 

 obliged to go for pasturage, which is now very 

 scarce on the island, on account of the thick growth 

 of the guava. 



After the departure of the Vincennes, a party 

 from the Peacock, consisting of Mr. Dana and 

 some others, obtained leave of absence from Cap- 

 tain Hudson for five days, with the design of 

 ascending Mount Aorai. They commenced the 

 ascent immediately in the rear of Papieti, and by 

 noon on the second day had reached an elevation 

 of five thousand feet, where they stood upon a 

 platform about twelve feet square ; thence they 

 looked down eastward two thousand feet into the 

 Matavai valley ; to the westward they had a gorge 

 about a thousand feet deep running into Toanoa 

 valley ; to the south, the platform on which they 

 stood was united by a narrow ridge with Mount 

 Aorai, which was apparently only a short distance 

 before them. In this place they were compelled 

 to pass the night by a fog which enveloped them, 

 through which the guides were unwilling to lead 

 them, refusing to proceed further along the dan- 

 gerous path until the clouds should clear away. 



The next morning was clear, and they pursued 

 their ascending route along the edge of a ridge not 

 more than two or three feet in width, having 

 on each side an abyss two thousand feet deep. 

 Seen from .this ridge, looking south, Mount Aorai 

 seemed a conical peak, but as it was approached it 

 proved to be a mountain wall, whose edge was 

 turned towards them. The only ascent was by a 

 similar narrow path between precipices, and sur- 

 passed in steepness those they had already passed. 

 The width of the crest seldom exceeded two feet, 

 and in some cases they sat upon it as if on horse- 

 back, or were compelled to creep along it upon 

 their hands and knees, clinging to the bushes. At 

 last they reached the summit, where they found 

 barely room to turn around. The ridge continued 

 for only a short distance beyond them, being then 

 cut across by the Punaania valley. 



From the summit of Aorai they had a mag- 

 nificent view ; to the south, it was speedily bounded 

 by the peaks of Orohena and Pitohiti, whose steep 

 sides rose from the valley beneath them ; to the 

 east, they had the rapid succession of ridge and 

 gorge which characterizes Tahitian scenery ; to the 

 west, over a similar series of jagged ridges, Eimeo 

 and Tetuaroa stood out from the horizon of the sea 

 in bold relief ; to the north, they looked down upon 

 the plain, studded with groves of cocoa-nut and 

 orange, and upon the harbour with its shipping, 

 and the encircling reefs of coral. 



A short distance below the summit of Mount 

 Aorai, a mass of turrets and pinnacles, which from 



its singular outline is called the crown, runs along 

 the top of a narrow ledge. 



Except the plain of the coast, no level land is in 

 sight but the valley of Punaania ; this is divided 

 from that of Matavai by a ridge of the usual edge- 

 like form, running upwards towards Orohena. 



Very few of the natives who are now alive have 

 been on the summit of Aorai ; their paths in this 

 direction, as in other places, do not lead beyond 

 the limit of the groves of wild banana (fahie). 

 Beyond the height at which these cease to grow, 

 the ground is chiefly covered with a wiry grass 

 (gleichenia), which springs up in many places to 

 the height of ten feet, and is every where almost 

 impenetrable. When this was not too high, they 

 broke it down by casting then? bodies at full length 

 upon it ; and when of larger growth, they had 

 recourse to cutting away or breaking its stiff and 

 crowded stems, until they had formed a way 

 beneath it, whence the light was almost excluded. 



The want of water, which after a few days of dry 

 weather is seldom found even in the elevated val- 

 leys, was an additional discomfort. It is to be 

 recommended to future travellers in the mountains 

 of Tahiti to make provision against this inconve- 

 nience. The party was so much distressed from 

 this cause as to enjoy the dew upon the leaves as a 

 luxury. 



Mr. Dana reported that the visit to Aorai con- 

 clusively settled one questionable point in the 

 geology of the island. He found upon its summit 

 neither corals nor "screw-shells," which vague 

 rumours have long located on the top of the Tahi- 

 tian mountains. Every one who has visited this 

 island has probably heard that such formations 

 exist in these lofty positions; but the report rests 

 wholly on native authority. Moera, the guide who 

 accompanied the party, and who resides near One- 

 Tree Hill, insisted that he had seen both, and pro- 

 mised to show them. On reaching the summit, he 

 began digging, and the rest of the party aided him. 

 He soon brought up what he called coral, but 

 which proved to be a grayish trachytic rock; and, 

 although he continued to dig for some time longer, 

 he could find nothing which lie could venture to 

 exhibit as screw-shells. 



In their descent from Mount Aorai they fol- 

 lowed the western side of the valley of Papoa, along 

 a narrow ledge, similar to that by which they had 

 ascended. After proceeding for two hours they 

 reached a small plain, which speedily narrowed to 

 a mere edge of naked rock, with a steep inclina- 

 tion; this they were compelled to traverse on their 

 hands and knees, taking the greatest care to avoid 

 detaching the rock, which in many places overhung 

 a precipice; next followed a perpendicular descent 

 of about twenty-five feet, down which they Jet 

 themselves by ropes; this difficulty overcome, the 

 rest of the route presented no dangerous features, 

 and was performed in safety. 



The manufactures of Tahiti are of little amount. 

 Among them is that of arrow-root from the tacca 

 pinnatifida, which employs a portion of the popula- 

 tion. Cocoa-nut oil is also made, and preserved 

 for use in pieces of bamboo, cut off at the joints, 

 when the natural diaphragms form a bottom, and 

 the piece is thus a convenient bucket. This oil is 

 often scented with aromatic herbs, to be employed 

 by the natives in anointing the hair and body; it is 

 also used for burning in lamps, and is exported in 



