294 THE OCEAN. 
scene was unusually impressive. On one side, the 
mountains of the interior, having their outline edged, 
as it were, with silver from the rays of the moon, 
rose in lofty magnificence, while the indistinct form, 
rich and diversified verdure, of the shrubs and trees, 
increased the effect of the scene. On the other 
hand was the illimitable sea, rolling in solemn ma- 
jesty its swelling waves over the rocks which de- 
fended the spot on which we stood. The most pro- 
found silence prevailed, and we might have fancied 
that we were the only beings in existence; for no 
sound was heard, excepting the gentle rustling of 
the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, as the light breeze 
from the mountain swept through them; or the 
hollow roar of the surf, and the rolling of the 
foaming wave, as it broke over the distant reef, 
and the splashing of the paddle of our canoe, as 
it approached the shore. It was impossible, at 
such a season, to behold this scene, exhibiting im- 
pressively the grandeur of creation and the insig- 
nificance of man, without experiencing emotions of 
adoring wonder and elevated devotion, and exclaim- 
ing with the Psalmist, ‘When’I consider thy hea- 
vens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the. 
stars which thou hast ordained; what is man, that. 
thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that 
thou visitest him ?’”* 
The same pleasing writer has given us a vivid ‘pic- 
ture of the emotions awakened by passing a night 
upon the open sea in a small boat. He was pro- 
ceeding from the island of Eimeo to Huaheine: 
* Polynesian Researches, 2nd ed. vol. ii. p. 245, 
