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Show 184 'l'AlliTl. Nov. 1835. stood as a smaller island in the' sea; and that around their steep flanks, streams of lava and beds of sedime~t were accumulated under water, in a conical mass. Th1s, after being raised, has been cut by numerous profound ravines, which all diverge from the common centre; the intervening ridges being flat-topped, and belonging to one slope. Having crossed the narrow girt of inhabited and fertile land, I followed the line of one of these ridges ; having on each hand, very steep and smooth-sided valleys. The vegetation is singular, consisting almost exclusively of small dwarf ferns, which, higher up, are mingled with coarse grass. The appearance was not very dissimilar from that on some of the Welsh hills ; and this being so close above the orchard of tropical plants on the coast, was very surprising. At the highest point which I reached, trees again appeared. Of these three zones of comparative luxuriance, the lower one owes its moisture, and therefore fertility, to its extreme flatness; for being scarcely raised above the level of the sea, the water, which it receives from the higher land, drains away slowly. The upper zone extends into a moister atmosphere; whilst the intermediate part, not being benefited by either of these advantages, is barren. The wood in the upper part was very pretty; tree-ferns having replaced the cocoa-nuts of the coast. It must not, however, be supposed that these woods at all equal the forests of Brazil. In an island, that vast number of productions which characterizes a continent, cannot be expected to occur. From the point which I attained, there was a good view of the distant island of Eimeo, dependant on the same sovereign with Tahiti. On the lofty and broken pinnacles, white massive clouds were piled up, which formed an island in the blue sky, as Eimeo itself did in the blue ocean. 'rhe island, with the exception of one small gateway is completely encircled by a reef. At this distance, a narrow but well-defined line of brilliant white was alone visible, where the waves first encountered the wall of coral. The glassy water of the lagoon was included within this line; Nov. 1835. 'fAHl'l'I. 485 and out of it the mountains rose abruptly Th fti I · . · e e ect was very p· easmg, and m1ght aptly be co mpare d to a framed engra·v m1g , where the frame represented the b rea k ers, t h e margm~ paper the ~agoon, and the drawing the island itself. When m the evenmg I descended from th . h e mountam, a bm a· n, · w om· I ·h ad pleased with a triflm' g g1' ft, met me nngmg With him hot roasted bananas, a pine-apple and cocoa-nuts. After h.a ving walked under a b urnm. g su' n I do not know any tlnng more delicious than the milk of young cocoa-nut. Pine-apples are here so abunda t th ~ th·e hp eople· eat them in the same wasteful m annern a' s wae mig t bt urmps. They are of an excellent flavour, -per11a ps eve.n e.tter tha~l those cultivated in England; and this I fb el·i eve IS· the highest compliment which can be 'd t pa1 o a rmt, or mdeed ~o any thing else. Before going on board I went ~o Mr. Wilson, .who interpreted to the Tahitian, who had paid me so adroit an attention, that I wanted him ~nd another man to accompany me on a short excursion mto the mountains. NovE:~-IB~R l8_'l'H.-In the morning I came on shore early, brmgmg With me some provisions in a bag, and two. blankets for myself and servant. These were lashed to eac~ end of a pole, and thus carried by my Tahitian compamons : from custom these men are able to walk for a whole day, with as much as fifty pounds at each end I told . my gm'd e s to provide themselves with food ·a nd cl~thmg: but for the latter, they said their skins were suf*~ cien t, and for the former, that there was p1enty of food the m~untains. The line of march was the valley of 1~-auru, m which the river flows that enters the se~ by .P omt V enus.' ThI'S I·S one of the principal streams in the Island, and Its source lies at the base of the loftiest pin-nacles '. wh 'IC h atta·m the elevation of about 7000 feet. The whole Island m ay b e cons1' de re d as one group of mountains so that the only way to penetrate the interior is to follo; up. the valleys. Our road, at first, lay through the wood whiCh bordered eac h s1' d e of t 11 e n·v er; and the glimpses |