78 Transactions. 
The appearance of Rapa, as we approached in the “ Ruahine,” was very 
picturesque, with its sharp peaks thrust up, as it were, into the air through 
the irregular but more rounded forms of the mountainous hills of the 
island. The harbour lay just before us, with two coal ships securely moored 
about two miles off, there being, seemingly, no obstruction between us and 
them; but beneath the quiet-looking surface lay the treacherous reefs, 
which, difficult and dangerous as they are to approach heedlessly, form the 
security of the harbour. We stopped some time close to the entrance, 
waiting for the boat to come off, the captain prudently hesitating to enter 
lest the buoys might by aecident have become displaced ; and the event 
proved how wise this precaution was, for we found afterwards that one of 
the principal buoys had been driven, by a recent gale, quite across the 
channel. At length the expected boat came, with the captain of the 
Company's coal ship and a native pilot. We moved cautiously ahead, and 
very soon the bottom was clearly visible under us. Then we approached the 
entranee of the narrow, tortuous channel among the reefs, the rocks 
glistening just below the surface, ominously close to the ship at times. The 
captain and our two pilots were all on the qui vive as we threaded the 
crooked passage, appearing as a blue line amid the black and green patches 
of the reefs. It was with a feeling of relief we at length saw that we were- 
safely through the lines of buoys, and found ourselves in the most romantic, 
snug harbour imaginable, the land rising on three sides like the walls of 
an amphitheatre, and protected by the reefs and a beacon islet on the fourth 
or eastern side, with the advantage of having fresh air from the open sea. 
Twenty ships might moor safely there, and small craft innumerable. The 
endless variety of form and colour around us was most enchanting. Near 
our anchorage was a very small village, rejoicing in thirty-one inhabitants ; 
but further off, on the opposite side, was another larger village, which we call 
the capital—where the King aud the French Resident live. We only 
regretted to see the French flag waving there instead of the English, and 
there is not the slightest doubt but that the natives would themselves have 
preferred it. It is perhaps matter of legitimate regret, that the simple 
manners and customs—the primitive feudal sway of the native chiefs— 
should be interfered with by either flag. 
Our coaling, of course, was proceeded with at once, and the greater part 
of the passengers, anxious to escape for a while from their iron prison, 
gradually dispersed on shore; whilst those who remained made bargains 
_ with the natives for coral, tropic birds’ feathers, bananas, &c. I began doing 
o a little sketching, and after securing some of the very peculiar features of 
the land, my next object was to determine with a moderate degree of 
