244 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES 
descended on the opposite side of the island, and 
approached the shore near the inland boundary of 
Opunohu bay. At other times, we travelled 
round in the neighbourhood of the shore, alter¬ 
nately walking on the beach, or, proceeding in a 
light canoe, paddled along the shallow water near 
the shore. Occasionally we passed through the 
inland village of Tamae ; and although, whenever 
we took this route, we had to walk three-quarters 
of a mile along the margin of the lake, up to our 
knees in water, yet we have always been amply 
repaid, by beholding the neatness of the gardens, 
and the sequestered peace of the village, by expe¬ 
riencing the generous hospitality, and receiving 
unequivocal proofs of the simple piety, of its inha¬ 
bitants. Once or twice, when approaching Tamae 
about sunrise, we have met the natives returning 
from the bushes, whither, by the break of day, 
they had retired for meditation and secret prayer. 
Their countenance beamed with peace and de¬ 
light; and, la ora oe ia lesu , Ta ora oe i te Atua 
-—Peace to you from Jesus, Blessing on you from 
God—was the general strain of their salutation. 
More than once we had to take our little boy, 
even before he was three months old, from Afa- 
reaitu, where he was born, to Papetoai, for 
medical advice. 
These journeys were exceedingly wearisome : 
returning from one of them, night overtook us 
many miles before we reached our home ; we tra¬ 
velled part of the way in a single canoe, but for 
several miles, where there was no passage between 
the reef and the shore, and the fragile bark was 
exposed without shelter to the long heavy billows 
of the Pacific, we proceeded along the beach, 
while the natives rowed the canoe upon the open 
