Having
Crossed The Narrow Low Girt Of Inhabited And Fertile Land,
I Followed A Smooth Steep Ridge Between Two Of The Deep
Ravines.
The vegetation was singular, consisting almost
exclusively of small dwarf ferns, mingled higher up, with
coarse grass; it was not very dissimilar from that on some
of the Welsh hills, and this 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
the three zones of comparative luxuriance, the lower one
owes its moisture, and therefore fertility, to its flatness;
for, being scarcely raised above the level of the sea, the water
from the higher land drains away slowly. The intermediate
zone does not, like the upper one, reach into a damp and
cloudy atmosphere, and therefore remains sterile. The
woods in the upper zone are very pretty, tree-ferns replacing
the cocoa-nuts on the coast. It must not, however, be
supposed that these woods at all equal in splendour the
forests of Brazil. The vast numbers of productions, which
characterize a continent, cannot be expected to occur in
an island.
From the highest point which I attained, there was a good
view of the distant island of Eimeo, dependent 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. The
island, with the exception of one small gateway, is completely
encircled by a reef. At this distance, a narrow but well-
defined brilliantly white line was alone visible, where the
waves first encountered the wall of coral. The mountains
rose abruptly out of the glassy expanse of the lagoon, included
within this narrow white line, outside which the heaving
waters of the ocean were dark-coloured. The view was
striking: it may aptly be compared to a framed engraving,
where the frame represents the breakers, the marginal paper
the smooth lagoon, and the drawing the island itself. When
in the evening I descended from the mountain, a man, whom
I had pleased with a trifling gift, met me, bringing with him
hot roasted bananas, a pine-apple, and cocoa-nuts. After
walking under a burning sun, I do not know anything more
delicious than the milk of a young cocoa-nut. Pine-apples
are here so abundant that the people eat them in the same
wasteful manner as we might turnips. They are of an excellent
flavor - perhaps even better than those cultivated in
England; and this I believe is the highest compliment which
can be paid to any fruit. Before going on board, Mr. Wilson
interpreted for me to the Tahitian who had paid me so adroit
an attention, that I wanted him and another man to accompany
me on a short excursion into the mountains.
18th. - In the morning I came on shore early, bringing
with me some provisions in a bag, and two blankets for myself
and servant.
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