XVIII 
SUCCESSION OF WATERFALLS 
437 
only in these deep ravines, innocuous to every one. Close by 
I saw the wild arum, the roots of which, when well baked, are 
good to eat, and the young leaves better than spinach. There 
was the wild yam, and a liliaceous plant called Ti, which grows 
in abundance, and has a soft brown root, in shape and size like 
a huge log of wood : this served us for dessert, for it is as 
sweet as treacle, and with a pleasant taste. There were, 
moreover, several other wild fruits, and useful vegetables. The 
little stream, besides its cool water, produced eels and cray¬ 
fish. I did indeed admire this scene, when I compared it 
with an uncultivated one in the temperate zones. I felt the 
force of the remark that man, at least savage man, with 
his reasoning powers only partly developed, is the child of the 
tropics. 
As the evening drew to a close, I strolled beneath the 
gloomy shade of the bananas up the course of the stream. 
My walk was soon brought to a close by coming to a waterfall 
between two and three hundred feet high ; and again above 
this there was another. I mention all these waterfalls in this 
one brook to give a general idea of the inclination of the land. 
In the little recess where the water fell, it did not appear that 
a breath of wind had ever blown. The thin edges of the great 
leaves of the banana, damp with spray, were unbroken, instead 
of being, as is so generally the case, split 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 morning it rained 
