484 



TAHITI. 



Nov. 1835. 



stood as a smaller island in the sea ; and that around their 

 steep flanks, streams of lava and beds of sediment were 

 accumulated under water^ in a conical mass. This, after 

 being raised^ has been cut by numerous profound ravines, 

 which all diverge from the common centre ; the intervening 

 ridges being flat-topped, and belonging to one slope. Having 

 crossed the narrow girt of inhabited and fertile land, I 

 followed the line of one of these ridges ; having on each 

 hand, very steep and smooth-sided valleys. The vegeta- 

 tion is singular, consisting almost exclusively of small dwarf 

 ferns, which, higher up, are mingled with coarse grass. 

 The appearance was not very dissimilar from that on some 

 of the Welsh hills; and this being so close above the 

 orchard of tropical plants on the coast, was very surprising. 

 At the highest point which I reached, trees again appeared. 

 Of these three zones of comparative luxuriance, the lower 

 one owes its moisture, and therefore fertility, to its extreme 

 flatness ; for being scarcely raised above the level of the sea, 

 the water, which it receives from the higher land, drains 

 away slowly. The upper zone extends into a moister atmo- 

 sphere; whilst the intermediate part, not being benefited 

 by either of these advantages, is barren. The wood in the 

 upper part was very pretty; tree-ferns having replaced the 

 cocoa-nuts of the coast. It must not, however, be supposed 

 that these woods at all equal the forests of Brazil. In an 

 island, that vast number of productions which characterizes 

 a continent, cannot be expected to occur. 



From the point which I attained, there was a good view 

 of the distant island of Eimeo, dependant on the same 

 sovereign with Tahiti. On the lofty and broken pinnacles, 

 white massive clouds were piled up, which formed an island 

 in the blue sky, as Eimeo itself did in the blue ocean. 

 The island, with the exception of one small gateway is 

 completely encircled by a reef. At this distance, a narrow 

 but well-defined line of brilhant white was alone visible, 

 where the waves first encountered the wall of coral. The 

 glassy water of the lagoon was included within this line; 



