300 SOCIETY ISLANDS. 
their different excursions, supported the same opinion. I was after- 
ward informed by Mr. Cunningham, then English Vice-Consul at 
the Navigator Islands, and previously long resident in Tahiti, that 
he had fully satisfied himself that the supposed coral bank on the 
mountains was a mere fable. 
Fragments of coral, sometimes of large size, are met with occasion- 
ally at considerable elevations on the island, both in the valleys and 
on the ridges. It was formerly customary with the natives, when 
making excursions up the mountains, to carry along a piece of coral to 
leave at the highest point reached. There was a certain superstitious 
regard for it, which led to its being selected for this purpose. For the 
same reason, also, it was carried up the hills to mark the limits between 
the land of different chiefs. ‘These facts account for the occasional 
occurrence of coral in the valleys, as observed by Mr. Stutchbury. 
The height at which it is not unfrequently found, is one thousand to 
fifteen hundred feet, the region of the Feiis, to which regular paths 
ascend. Besides coral, shells of various kinds are found about the hills, 
and especially at the elevation just mentioned, where they are carried 
by the natives as food. <A large species of 'Turbo is the most common 
shell, and, in this case, these proofs of elevation are transported to the 
places where they occur by a soldier crab. I have often met with 
them at the height of one thousand feet, travelling with their shells 
on their backs.* 
Whether the present reefs of ‘Tahiti indicate any elevation of the 
island or not, I could not fully assure myself. If any, it is but small, 
as there are no islands about the reefs which have a higher elevation 
than they might have acquired by gradual accumulation from the 
action of the surf. Neither is there any evidence of subsidence appa- 
rent. ‘The shore plains, if built upon reefs, as I was assured, may 
afford proof of a rise of one or two feet. 
* Mr. Couthouy remarks in his journal, with reference to the tradition of corals on 
Orohena, “We saw nothing even remotely justifying such a belief, not a solitary 
fragment of calcareous rock being met with in any of the villages at the foot of the peak, 
or on any of the ridges, although I carefully sought for them. ‘True, in the immediate 
vicinity of the sea, and as high up as one thousand eight hundred or two thousand feet, 
we saw now and then blocks of coral lying loose on the surface, but they were all recent 
species, such as are now growing on the reef, and had evidently been carried up, either 
for landmarks, or some other purpose, perhaps a religious one. Mr. Ormond told me 
that certain kinds of coral were held sacred in ancient times by the natives,” 
