POINT VENUS. 
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sionally with charming little villages, with houses, 
cool and comfortable, built of hibiscus or bamboo 
poles, fixed in the ground a few inches apart, 
giving them the appearance of enormous bird-cages. 
The roofs are overhanging, and ingeniously con- 
structed of plaited palm leaves. At Point Venus 
is a lighthouse, with a flashing light visible for 
14 miles, and close at hand is still to be seen the 
tamarind- tree planted by Captain Cook near the 
spot where he completed those renowned labours 
which still single him out as the greatest of Pacific 
discoverers. 
Another agreeable excursion was one taken to the 
beautifully situated hill-fort of Fatauna — renowned 
in the annals of the country — which well repays the 
trouble of reaching it. 
The road lay through guava fields and sugar plan- 
tations, and delightfully cool and shady forests, until 
reaching one of the most important waterfalls in the 
island, where a broad sheet of water is seen leaping 
over a perpendicular precipice nearly 700 feet high, 
falling into a huge basin some 1500 feet above the 
level of the sea. 
The naturalists and others took every opportunity 
of becoming acquainted with the productions, soil, 
climate, and inhabitants. The natives (that is, those 
living away from the town and European influences) 
are found to he of the same indolent nature which 
characterises all those met with amongst the South 
