BA V OF ISLANDS 445 



afforded a remarkable, and not very pleasing contrast, with our 

 joyful and boisterous welcome at Tahiti. 



In the afternoon we went on shore to one of the larger 

 groups of houses, which yet hardly deserves the title of a 

 village. Its name is Pahia ; it is the residence of the mission- 

 aries ; and there are no native residents except servants and 

 labourers. In the vicinity of the Bay of Islands the number 

 of Englishmen, including their families, amounts to between 

 two and three hundred. All the cottages, many of which are 

 whitewashed and look very neat, are the property of the 

 English. The hovels of the natives are so diminutive and 

 paltry that they can scarcely be perceived from a distance. 

 At Pahia it was quite pleasing to behold the English flowers 

 in the gardens before the houses ; there were roses of several 

 kinds, honeysuckle, jasmine, stocks, and whole hedges of 

 sweetbriar. 



December 22nd. — In the morning I went out walking; but 

 I soon found that the country was very impracticable. All the 

 hills are thickly covered with tall fern, together with a low 

 bush which grows like a cypress ; and very little ground has 

 been cleared or cultivated. I then tried the sea-beach ; but 

 proceeding towards either hand, my walk was soon stopped by 

 salt-water creeks and deep brooks. The communication 

 between the inhabitants of the different parts of the bay is (as 

 in Chiloe) almost entirely kept up by boats. I was surprised 

 to find that almost every hill which I ascended had been at 

 some former time more or less fortified. The summits were 

 cut into steps or successive terraces, and frequently they had 

 been protected by deep trenches. I afterwards observed that 

 the principal hills inland in like manner showed an artificial 

 outline. These are the Pas, so frequently mentioned by 

 Captain Cook under the name of "hippah;" the difference of 

 sound being owing to the prefixed article. 



That the Pas had formerly been much used was evident 

 from the piles of shells and the pits in which, as I was 

 informed, sweet potatoes used to be kept as a reserve. As 

 there was no water on these hills, the defenders could never 

 have anticipated a long siege, but only a hurried attack for 

 plunder, against which the successive terraces would have 



