Nov. 1835. TEMPERANCE OF INHABITANTS. 



491 



queen were at last persuaded to j oin it. I mmediately a law was 

 passed^ that no spirits should be allowed to be introduced into 

 the island^ and that he who sold and he who bought the for- 

 bidden article^, should be punished by a fine. With remark- 

 able justice^ a certain period was allowed for stock in hand to 

 be sold^ before the law came into effect. But when it did^, a 

 general search was made in which even the houses of the 

 missionaries were not exempted^ and all the ava (as the 

 natives call all ardent spirits) was poured on the ground. 

 When one reflects on the effect of intemperance on the abo- 

 rigines of the two Americas, I think it will be acknowledged, 

 that every well-wisher of Tahiti owes no common debt of 

 gratitude to the missionaries. As long as the little island of 

 St. Helena remained under the government of the East India 

 Company, spirits, owing to the great injury they had pro- 

 duced, were not allowed to be imported ; but wine was sup- 

 plied from the Cape of Good Hope. It is rather a striking, 

 and not very gratifying fact, that in the same year that spirits 

 were allowed to be sold on that island, their use was banished 

 from Tahiti by the free will of the people. 



After breakfast we proceeded on our journey. As my 

 object was merely to see a little of the interior scenery, we 

 returned by another track, which descended into the main 

 valley lower down. For some distance we wound, by a most 

 intricate path, along the side of the mountain which formed 

 the valley. In the less precipitous parts we passed through 

 extensive groves of the wild banana. The Tahitians, with 

 their naked, tattooed bodies, their heads ornamented with 

 flowers, and seen in the dark shade of the woods, would have 

 formed a fine picture of man, inhabiting some primeval 

 forest. In our descent we followed the line of ridges 5 these 

 were exceedingly narrow, and for considerable lengths steep 

 as a ladder; but all clothed with vegetation. The extreme 

 care necessary in poising each step rendered the walk 

 fatiguing. I am never weary of expressing my astonish- 

 ment at these ravines and precipices : the mountains may 

 almost be described, as rent by so many crevices. When 



