1835.] TEMPERANCE OF THE NATIVES. 411 
give a general idea of the inclination of the land. In the little 
recess where the water fell, it did not appear that a breath of 
wind had ever blown. ‘The thin edges of the great leaves of the 
banana, damp with spray, were unbroken, instead of being, as is 
so generally the case, split into a thousand shreds. From our 
position, almost suspended on the mountain-side, there were 
glimpses into the depths of the neighbouring valleys; and the 
lofty points of the central mountains, towering up within sixty 
degrees of the zenith, hid half the evening sky. Thus seated, 
it was a sublime spectacle to watch the shades of night gradually 
obscuring the last and highest pinnacles. 
Before we laid ourselves down to sleep, the elder Tahitian 
fell on his knees, and with closed eyes repeated a long prayer in 
his native tongue. He prayed as a Christian should do, with 
fitting reverence, and without the fear of ridieule or any osten- 
tation of piety. At our meals neither of the men would taste 
food, without saying beforehand a short grace. Those travellers 
who think that a Tahitian prays only when the eyes of the mis- 
sionary are fixed on him, should have slept with us that night on 
the mountain-side. Before morning it rained very heavily ; but 
the good thatch of banana-leaves kept us dry. 
November 19th.—At daylight my friends, after their morning 
prayer, prepared an excellent breakfast in the same manner 
as in the evening. They themselves certainly partook of it 
largely ; indeed I never saw any men eat near so much. I sup- 
pose such enormously capacious stomachs must be the effect of a 
large part of their diet consisting of fruit and vegetables, which 
contain, in a given bulk, a comparatively small portion of nutri- 
ment. Unwittingly, I was the means of my companions break- 
ing, as I afterwards learned, one of their own laws and resolu- 
tions: I took with me a flask of spirits, which they could not. 
refuse to partake of; but as often as they drank a little, they put 
their fingers before their mouths, and uttered the word “ Mis- 
sionary.” About two years ago, although the use of the ava 
was prevented, drunkenness from the introduction of spirits be- 
came very prevalent. The missionaries prevailed on a few good 
men, who saw that their country was rapidly going to ruin, to 
join with them in a Temperance Society. From good sense or 
shame, all the chiefs and the queen were at last persuaded to 
