Ixxviii Appendix. 



with a tliiu covei^ing of greasy soil ; this fort may reasonably be considered as 

 impregnable, in fact ten men might defend it against ten thousand. Nothing 

 here so much convinced me of the cowardice of the Tahitians as seeing this 

 place, and knowing that when the French mai'ched to attack it, they not only 

 advanced to within two hundred yards of it, but that when they got there the 

 natives who were in the fort ran a-way after firing one or two muskets ; 

 fortunately, or unfoi-tunately, the French received orders to return just at thesame 

 time, and never knew that the defence was abandoned. As I had this account 

 from the natives themselves at the spot, there can hardly be any doubt of its 

 truth. When I asked them why they did not stay in the fort and kill eveiy 

 Frenchman who attempted to cross the narrow path, they said that there were 

 very few men in the fort, and they were so astonished at the hardihood of the 

 soldiers in coming so far that they never thought of fighting, but threw away 

 their muskets and ran up the mountains as fast as they could. The cowardice 

 and imbecility of the defenders (!!!) of this valley can hardly be understood 

 by a person who does not know the country, but you may have some idea of 

 it when I tell you that the valley must be as narrow and more difficult than 

 the Kyber Pass, with the additional advantage to the defenders of the sides of 

 the mountains being covered with trees, which would efiectually shelter them 

 from the fire of the attacking party, and that of 800 soldiers who marched up 

 it, only about forty altogether were killed and wounded. Who can feel any 

 interest in such a pack of cowards 1 Had they been any other people in the 

 world than Tahitians there can be no doubt that not a Frenchman would have 

 returned alive to tell the tale. 



On the road to the pa I found a tree in flower, with handsome leaves 

 growing at the ends of the branches, like a Terminalia, and with a vast 

 profusion of flowers growing out of the trunk and root as well as the branches; 

 these flowers were hexandrous, and appeared to resemble those of Laurince, 

 but the fruit was just like that of jEgiurus ; the leaves of this were lanceolate 

 and simple, but M. Yesco tells me that he found, at Borabora, another ti^ee 

 with the same flowers and mode of inflorescence, of which the leaves were 

 digitate, like Carolinice. 



Before I had left the stream I saw some way up the mountain what appeared 

 to be a tree with red flowers, but as I had never heard of such a thing in the 

 island I was obliged to content myself (as I could not approach it) with 

 thinking that it might only be the stipules of Nauclea. However, just before 

 I came to the foot I saw, almost ten feet below me, another plant, which 

 I immediately recognized to be the same, and to be an Erythrina, which I take it 

 is quite new, unless it should be the one attributed to the Sandwich Islands 

 under the name of Monospernia. When I arrived at the narrow path it was 

 nearly dark, but I could see a great commotion in the pa ; hosvevei-, I walked 



