276 



Cruise of the Porpoise. 



PAUMOTU GROUP AND 



Cruise of the Porpoise. 



cept in the rainy season; it has in consequence 

 few inhabitants, who are engaged mostly in fishing. 

 The eastern two-thirds are almost one entire moun- 

 tain, rising gradually from the south, until it attains 

 an elevation of two thousand five hundred feet; 

 while on the north, it is almost perpendicular. 



On the south side, it has a narrow strip of land, 

 not exceeding one-fourth of a mile in width, the soil 

 of which is very rich, and which contains the greater 

 part of the population. Owing to the want of mois- 

 ture, however, few plants will thrive even here ; re- 

 sort is therefore had to the uplands, which are 

 found to he susceptible of the highest degree of 

 cultivation. 



The amount of arable land, or that susceptible of 

 cultivation, is believed by the missionaries to be 

 one-fourth; but I should be inclined to reduce it to 

 one-eighth, from the report of others, and my own 

 observations. Only about one-tenth of this is cul- 

 tivated. 



The population of the island was reported as five 

 thousand, in 1840; eight years prior, in 1832, it 

 was six thousand : during this time, five hundred 

 marriages took place. The data has shown, that 

 the births much exceed the deaths; and the de- 

 crease is attributed to emigration, which has been 

 going on for some time. The inhabitants are all 



poor, and their pastor, the Rev. Mr. Hitchcock, as- 

 serts, that there are not ten individuals on the 

 island who have comfortable clothing, and sufficient 

 food ; and he adds, that there has been no improve- 

 ment in their dwellings for the last ten years. 



The schools on this island are little more than a 

 name; for they have neither regular teachers nor 

 school-houses. One thousand scholars are said to 

 be embodied in them. 



The island has been occupied as a missionary 

 station since 1832, and the church contains about 

 three hundred members. 



There are several small harbours within the 

 reef, on the south side, at Kaluaaha, the mis- 

 sionary station, which are capable of affording 

 shelter for vessels of from sixty to eighty tons. 



On the 18th, we anchored off Honolulu, at an 

 early hour, although too late to enter. The appear- 

 ance of the island was much more fertile, now that 

 the winter had passed. There being no letters 

 from home, was a disappointment to us all. We 

 were again warmly welcomed by our friends and 

 countrymen. 



On the 19th, we went in and anchored in the 

 outer harbour, where on the 23rd we were joined 

 by the Porpoise. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

 PAUMOTU GROUP AND PENRHYN ISLAND. 



CRUISE OP THE PORPOISE IN THE PAUMOTU GROUP EXPERIMENTS MADE PENRHYN ISLAND THE PORPOISE 



RETURNS TO HONOLULU. 



THE disposition that was intended to be made of the 

 Porpoise during the winter mouths, has been men- 

 tioned in a preceding chapter; an account of her 

 proceedings in the prosecution of the duties as- 

 signed to her, will now be given. 



On the 15th November, 1840, as has been before 

 stated, she left Oahu. In addition to her crew, a 

 number of Kanakas were shipped for the purpose of 

 being employed, under the direction of an officer, 

 on one of the coral islands, to bore through the 

 coral rock. 



The first shoal searched for was that of Manuel 

 Rodriguez : its supposed locality, in longitude 153 

 54' W., and latitude 10 58' N., was passed over, 

 and no indications whatever of it were seen. 



On the 1 1 th December, they made the island of 

 Manhii, of the Paumotu Group, and shortly after, 

 that of Ahii, or Peacock Island. 



On the 13th, they made the Rurick Chain. 



On the 15th they reached Aratica, or Carlshoff 

 Island, on which Lieutenant-Commandant Ring- 

 gold had determined to land the party intended to 

 experiment in boring, consisting of fifteen men, 

 under Lieutenant Johnson, among whom were nine 

 Kanakas and three seamen, the armourer with his 

 forge, and a carpenter. Lieutenant Johnson was 

 put in charge of the party to conduct the experi- 

 ments. 



By the 18th, they had succeeded in completing 

 all the arrangements, when the brig left them to 



pursue her cruise for thirty or forty days to the 

 windward part of the group. 



On the 19th, they made Vincennes and Raraka 

 Islands. 



On the 20th, they made Saken Island, which 

 proved low, with but a few trees on it : the greater 

 part of the island is a reef. 



The next day they were up with the three small 

 islands to the southward of Saken, which they had 

 been directed to look for and survey. Lieutenant- 

 Commandant Ringgold found and surveyed them, 

 and designated the cluster as the Sea-Gull Group; 

 while to the three islands he gave the names of 

 Passed-Midshipman Reid and Bacon, and Quarter- 

 Master Clute. Reid Island proved to be inhabited, 

 and the brig was boarded from it by two canoes. 

 These contained four natives, besides a toothless old 

 man calling himself a missionary, who readily con- 

 sented to remain for the night on board. The 

 Tahitians on board had no difficulty in understand- 

 ing them. 



On the 22nd, several of the officers visited Reid 

 Island. Its population consisted of about twenty- 

 five men, women, and children, among whom was 

 the daughter of the old chief, considered by our 

 officers as a very beautiful girl, with fine figure, ex- 

 pressive countenance, and long silky hair : she was 

 sprightly, but I regret to say, was covered with ver- 

 min. The children were fat and chubby. 



Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold, having finish- 



