"NATIONAL TEMPLE AT ATEHURU. 341 
Within the enclosure, the houses of the priests, 
and keepers of the idols, were erected. Ruins of 
temples are found in every situation : on the sum¬ 
mit of a hill, as at Maeva, where Tane’s temple, 
nearly one hundred and twenty feet square, en¬ 
closed with high walls, is still standing, almost 
entire; on the extremity of a point of land pro¬ 
jecting into the sea; or in the recesses of an exten¬ 
sive and overshadowing grove. The trees growing 
within the walls, and around the temple, were 
sacred; these were the tall cypress-like casuarina, 
the tamamii or callophyllum, rniro , or thespesia, 
and the ton , or cordia. These were, excepting 
the casuarina-trees, of large foliage and exuberant 
growth, their interwoven and dark umbrageous 
branches frequently excluded the rays of the sun ; 
and the contrast between the bright glare of a 
tropical day, and the sombre gloom in the depths 
of these groves, was peculiarly striking. The 
fantastic contortions in the trunks and tortuous 
