492 



TAHITI. 



Nov. 1835. 



viewing the surrounding country from the knife-edged ridges, 

 the point of support was so small, that the effect was 

 nearly the same, I should think, as from a balloon. In 

 this descent we had occasion to use the ropes only once, at 

 the point where we entered the main valley. We slept under 

 the same ledge of rock, where, the day before, we had dined : 

 the night was fine, but from the depth and narrowness of the 

 gorge, profoundly dark. 



Before actually seeing this country, I had difficulty in 

 understanding two facts mentioned by Ellis ; namely, that 

 after the murderous battles of former times, the survivors on 

 the conquered side retired into the mountains, where a 

 handful of men could resist a multitude. Certainly half-a- 

 dozen men, at the spot where the Tahitian reared the old 

 tree, could easily have repulsed thousands. Secondly, that 

 after the introduction of Christianity, there were wild men 

 who lived in the mountains, and whose retreats were un- 

 known to the more civilized inhabitants. 



November 20th. — Tn the morning we started early, and 

 reached Matavai at noon. On the road we met a large 

 party of noble athletic men, going for wild bananas. I found 

 that the ship, on account of the difficulty in watering, had 

 moved to the harbour of Papawa, to which place I imme- 

 diately walked. This is a very pretty spot. The cove is 

 surrounded by reefs, and the water as smooth as that in a 

 lake. The cultivated ground, with all its beautiful pro- 

 ductions, and the cottages, comes close down to the water^s 

 edge. 



From the varying accounts which I had read before reach- 

 ing these islands, I was very anxious to form, from my own 

 observation, a judgment of their moral state — although such 

 judgment would necessarily be very imperfect. A first 

 impression at all times very much depends on one^s pre- 

 viously-acquired ideas. My notions were drawn from Ellis^s 

 ^'Polynesian Researches^' — an admirable and most inte- 

 « resting work, but naturally looking at every thing under 

 a favourable point of view ; from Beechey's Voyage ; and 



