286 SOCIETY ISLANDS. 
On Tahiti, still loftier summits, with crowns and crests and jagged 
ridges constitute the surface: the eye follows up one precipitous 
slope to plunge at once one or two thousand feet to the bottom of 
another. 
The islands to the northwestward are described as exceeding Tahiti 
in their bold features, and in the indentations of their shores, which 
form deep bays, penetrating far among the mountains; they are, for 
their size, the most remarkable in the Pacific. 
There is great luxuriance of verdure over the Society Islands, and 
good soil. But owing to the mountainous character of the lands, and 
especially the remarkably steep declivities, but little of the surface, 
comparatively, can be brought under cultivation. Yet there are many 
fine valleys besides the level areas along the shores which might be 
tilled to great advantage. The sugar-cane and many tropical fruits 
are already grown in abundance, and to these the coffee plant and 
other productions of the Kast Indies might be added. 
ISLAND OF TAHITI. 
The Island of Tahiti consists of two unequal peninsulas, united by 
a long, narrow isthmus, and has some resemblance, in outline, to the 
figure 8. The trend corresponds with that of the group. ‘The larger, 
or northern peninsula, is nearly circular, and measures about twenty 
miles across. ‘The smaller is twenty-five miles long, with a breadth 
varying from five to nine miles. 
1. GENERAL FEATURES. 
With the exception of a narrow plain bordering the sea, the whole 
surface of Tahiti is a succession of lofty ridges and deep valleys. The 
mountains of the two peninsulas belong to separate systems, entirely 
disconnected by the isthmus, and as distinct in the inclinations of the 
rocks and slopes which constitute them. 
In the northern peninsula, they commence their ascent from the sea 
or the seashore plain, and gradually rise, on all sides, toward the cen- 
tral peaks, the ridges of the north and west terminating in the tower- 
ing summits of Ordhena* and Aorai,t while the eastern and southern, 
though reaching toward the same peaks, are partly interrupted by the 
* Pronounced Oréhenah, + Pronounced Owry. 
