THEMALAYRACE. 71 



much practised." The Guava plant has now overrun much of the 

 productive soil; and is commonly complained of, as " having ruined 

 the island." Yet, according to the missionaries, " the population, for 

 the last thirty years, did not appear to have diminished." 



A second mountain excursion was undertaken; and we procured the 

 services of a native, named Veheori. This man provided himself 

 with, a rope, and took with him his son, for the purpose as he said, 

 " of teaching him the way to the mountains ; as after a while he should 

 himself die, and then nobody would know." It appeared, however, 

 in the sequel, that another reason had entered into his views, as he 

 "owned a tract of land" at the limit of our excursion. We started at 

 an early hour ; and in the afternoon, we had attained an elevation of 

 between four and five thousand feet, alonsr the crest of a frightful 

 knife-shaped ridge, such as I have only seen in the island of Taheiti. 

 We here looked upon the wild and romantic scenery of the Interior, 

 from a new point of view. 



Amidst the luxuriance of the forest, immense numbers of tlie 

 radiating crowns of the Jehi banana, were conspicuous in the dis- 

 tance. I had previously, from below, wondered at the presence of 

 these groves in situations that seemed inaccessible to human foot. For 

 the plant is multiplied only by suckers; and the natives (those at least 

 of the existing generation), take no part in disseminating it; although 

 the green fruit, which becomes farinaceous when cooked, contributes 

 largely to their sustenance. The fehi differs from the common banana 

 in having a simple raceme; and the substitution at Samoa of a second 

 variety, may be regarded as proof, that the species was originally 

 foreign to both places. Some mystery, therefore, seems connected with 

 this plant, and the period and mode of its introduction into Taheiti. 



Our time being limited, perhaps fortunately, it was now necessary 

 to think about returning ; and Veheori led us to a point, where much 

 to our surprise, the descent was practicable. On the following day, 

 we returned midway along the flank of the ridge, and deriving assist- 

 ance only once from the rope, made our final exit by the valley below. 



In all my subsequent experience, I have never met with a people so 

 serviceable to the traveller as the Taheitians; for they seemed, in fact, 

 to command at all times the principal conveniences of life. Half an 

 hour of daylight was sufficient for building a house, of the stems and 

 leaves of the fehi banana; and fire was produced by rubbing sticks. 

 In one place, the running water was deeply sunk among stones, but 

 by working in banana leaves, they brought it to the surface. The 



