554 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
adjacent shore. Tobua^ the principal, forming the south 
or west side of Vaitape bay, is not less than three or four 
hundred feet above the sea. 
In the geology of Borabora, the only peculiarity is the 
existence of a species of feldspar and quartz, but the 
appearance and shape of the island is singular and 
imposing^ The high land in the interior is not broken 
into a number of small mountain ridges, but, uniting in 
one stupendous mass, rears its magnificent form, which 
resembles a double-peaked mountain, to an elevation 
perhaps, little below 3000 feet above the water. The 
lower hills and small islands are not seen at a distance, 
so that when viewed from the sea or the other islands, 
especially Huahine, (from the north and western parts of 
which it is generally visible,) it appears like one solitary 
and gigantic obelisk or pyramid rising from the ocean 
and reaching to the clouds. 
The settlement at the head of Vaitape bay commands 
a view of every diversity in scenery. The lofty interior 
mountain clothed with verdure, and the deep glens that 
indent its sides, stand in pleasing contrast with the hilly 
or coralline islands that appear in the west, while the 
uniformity and nakedness of the distant horizon is 
broken by the appearance of the conical or circular sum¬ 
mits of the mountains of Maupiti or Maurua, upwards of 
thirty miles distant. This island was frequently visible 
from Borabora, during our visit at this time. 
Maupiti is but circumscribed in extent, and its moun¬ 
tains are less broken and romantic than those of others 
in the group ; it has, however, some peculiarities. It is 
the only place in the Georgian or Society Islands in 
which primitive formations are found to any extent. 
Besides the cellular volcanic rock and the several kinds of 
