A PICNIC 219 



together in the shape of a crown. Having arrived 

 at our destination we were in time to see the last 

 of the festal preparations made by the natives 

 for our entertainment — the removal of the sucking- 

 pig from the oven. The oven was a hole dug in 

 the ground and lined with large stones which had 

 been previously heated in a fire. Banana leaves 

 had been placed over the hot stones, then the pig 

 had been laid in whole and completely buried, 

 first with the banana leaves, and finally with a 

 layer of earth. Here it had remained for an hour 

 or more, and certainly when it was exhumed it 

 was perfectly cooked, and served up with plantains 

 it made a most palatable dish. We were given 

 several other native dishes, of which the m.ost 

 choice perhaps was the famous "cocoanut salad." 

 This salad is made of the heart of the green top of 

 a cocoanut tree, and as each salad involves the 

 destruction of a tree, it is only prepared on a special 

 occasion. 



After a few days' stay at Papeete we were 

 invited to pay a visit to the village of Tautira, 

 which is reputed to be the most picturesque spot 

 in Tahiti. We gladly accepted the invitation, 

 and got under weigh early one morning. Steam- 

 ing close to the land we had a fine view of the 

 wild rugged coast, and of the high jagged peaks 

 with their cloud-covered summits. Many water- 

 falls, looking in the distance like threads of silver, 

 were falUng sheer down the precipitous wall of 



