These Antipodes Call To One's Mind Old
Recollections Of Childish Doubt And Wonder.
Only the other
day I looked forward to this airy barrier as a definite point
in our voyage homewards; but now I find it, and all such
resting-places for the imagination, are like shadows, which
a man moving onwards cannot catch.
A gale of wind lasting
for some days, has lately given us full leisure to measure
the future stages in our homeward voyage, and to wish
most earnestly for its termination.
December 21st. - Early in the morning we entered the Bay
of Islands, and being becalmed for some hours near the
mouth, we did not reach the anchorage till the middle of the
day. The country is hilly, with a smooth outline, and is
deeply intersected by numerous arms of the sea extending
from the bay. The surface appears from a distance as if
clothed with coarse pasture, but this in truth is nothing but
fern. On the more distant hills, as well as in parts of the
valleys, there is a good deal of woodland. The general tint
of the landscape is not a bright green; and it resembles the
country a short distance to the south of Concepcion in Chile.
In several parts of the bay, little villages of square tidy
looking houses are scattered close down to the water's edge.
Three whaling-ships were lying at anchor, and a canoe every
now and then crossed from shore to shore; with these
exceptions, an air of extreme quietness reigned over the
whole district. Only a single canoe came alongside. This,
and the aspect of the whole scene, afforded a remarkable,
and not very pleasing contrast, with our joyful and boisterous
welcome at Tahiti.
In the afternoon we went on shore to one of the larger
groups of houses, which yet hardly deserves the title of a
village. Its name is Pahia: it is the residence of the
missionaries; and there are no native residents except servants
and labourers. In the vicinity of the Bay of Islands, the
number of Englishmen, including their families, amounts to
between two and three hundred. All the cottages, many of
which are whitewashed and look very neat, are the property
of the English. The hovels of the natives are so diminutive
and paltry, that they can scarcely be perceived from a distance.
At Pahia, it was quite pleasing to behold the English
flowers in the gardens before the houses; there were
roses of several kinds, honeysuckle, jasmine, stocks, and
whole hedges of sweetbrier.
December 22nd. - In the morning I went out walking; but
I soon found that the country was very impracticable. All
the hills are thickly covered with tall fern, together with
a low bush which grows like a cypress; and very little
ground has been cleared or cultivated. I then tried the
sea-beach; but proceeding towards either hand, my walk
was soon stopped by salt-water creeks and deep brooks. The
communication between the inhabitants of the different
parts of the bay, is (as in Chiloe) almost entirely kept up
by boats.
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