POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
489 
entirely of human skulls. The horrid piles of sculls, 
in their various stages of decay, exhibit a most ghastly 
and affecting spectacle. They are principally, if not 
entirely, the sculls of those who have been slain in 
battle. A number of beautiful trees grow around, 
especially the tamanu, callophyllum inophyllum, and 
the aoa, Jlcus prolixa, resembling, in its growth and 
appearance, one of the varieties of the banian in 
India. 
In the inland part of the district there is a cele¬ 
brated pare^ or natural fortress, frequently resorted to 
by the inhabitants in seasons of war 5 and with a 
little attention it might easily be made impregnable, at 
least to such forces or machines as the natives could 
bring against it. 
A fine quay, or causeway, of coral rock had been 
raised along the edge of the southern side of the bay, 
on which the natives had erected the frame of a 
large and substantial place of worship. It appeared 
to have remained in the state in which we saw it 
for some months past. The king and chiefs, with 
their numerous attendants, had removed to the vicinity 
of the Missionary station on the other side of the 
island, and the district appeared comparatively deserted. 
The frame of the building had been prepared with 
great care, several of the pillars being of highly 
polished aito^ or casuarina. 
Early in the afternoon we left our kind friends, 
and enjoyed a pleasant sail within the reef, along the 
eastern shore of the island j which Was remarkably 
broken, and beautiful in mountain scenery, as well as 
rich and verdant in the foliage with which the 
woody parts of the country were clothed. We passed 
3 R 
