490 



TAHITI. 



Nov. 1835. 



instead of being splits as generally is the case^ into a thousand 

 shreds. From our position^ almost suspended on the 

 mountain-side^ there were glimpses into the depths of the 

 neighbouring valleys ; and the lofty points of the central 

 mountains^ towering up within sixty degrees of the zenith, 

 hid half the evening sky. Thus seated, it was a sublime 

 spectacle to watch the shades of night gradually obscuring 

 the last and highest pinnacles. 



Before we laid ourselves down to sleep, the elder Tahitian 

 fell on his knees, and with closed eyes repeated a long prayer 

 in his native tongue. He prayed as a Christian should do, 

 with fitting reverence, and without the fear of ridicule or any 

 ostentation of piety. At our meals neither of the men would 

 taste food, without saying beforehand a short grace. Those 

 travellers, who think that a Tahitian prays only when the 

 eyes of the missionary are fixed on him, should have slept 

 with us that night on the mountain-side. Before mxorning 

 it rained very heavily ; but the good thatch of banana-leaves 

 kept us dry. 



November 19th. — At daylight my friends, after their 

 morning prayer, prepared an excellent breakfast in the same 

 manner as in the evening. They themselves certainly par- 

 took of it largely ; indeed I never saw any men eat nearly so 

 much. I should suppose such capacious stomachs must be 

 the result of a large part of their diet consisting of fruit and 

 vegetables, which contain, in a given bulk, a comparatively 

 small portion of nutriment. Unwittingly, I was the means of 

 my companions breaking (as I afterwards learned) one of their 

 own laws and resolutions. I took v/ith me a flask of spirits, 

 which they could not resolve to refuse ; but as often as they 

 drank a little, they put their fingers before their mouths, and 

 uttered the word "Missionary.^" About two years ago, 

 although the use of the ava was prevented, drunkenness from 

 the introduction of spirits became very prevalent. The mis- 

 sionaries prevailed on a few good men, who saw their country 

 rapidly going to ruin, to join with them in a Temperance 

 Society. From good sense or shame all the chiefs and the 



