In the prayer-house, which at first, in my simplicity, I had taken for a school, no Missionary was present. The assembly consisting, except myself, of natives only, though tolerably quiet, was not so profoundly silent as at church. I endeavoured to read in the countenances of those around me, what might be the thoughts which at the moment occupied their minds, and few were the eyes which did not, as they passed muster, speak of other matter than devotion and the Bible. Most of them appeared engaged in very profane speculations: friendly glances occasionally interchanged, betrayed the hopes of the younger devotees; while many a stately Yeri was probably considering by what means he should procure from my ship's-company an old waistcoat, or a pair of torn pantaloons in which he might appear with suitable dignity at the approaching coronation; and among the ladies, some might be weighing the pleasure of possessing a sailor's sheet, against the risks they must run to obtain it.
Exactly facing me was seated a fair one most becomingly enveloped in this envied habiliment, and enjoying with modest complacency, but visible triumph, the admiration with which the eyes of her country-women were fixed upon her garment.
I had heard from the Missionaries many wonderful accounts of the Lake Wahiria, situated among the mountains which rise in the centre of the northern peninsula. They had themselves never seen it, and considered it almost impossible for an European to reach it; even the boldest Tahaitians rarely visit it; and a saying is current in the island, that it is inhabited by an evil demon. Its depth they report to be unfathomable, and cannot conceive from what cause this huge body of water can be stationary at so great a height.
Mr. Hoffman, our mineralogist, an active young man, resolved to undertake this expedition, accompanied by three Tahaitians:—Maititi, who on our arrival had concluded a treaty of friendship with him, and adopted the name of Hoffman; Tauru, a respectable elderly man; and Teiraro, a brisk and lively young fellow. The two latter could write their own names. At first they raised many objections, assuring him that the journey, at all times difficult, was now dangerous from the waters being swollen by the rains; however, a shirt promised to each of them overcame all these obstacles, and the travellers set out at mid-day in excellent spirits. Maititi, a soldier in the royal Tahaitian army, bore the insignia of his rank in a musket, to which nothing but the lock was wanting, and a cartouche-box without powder. He had learnt a few English words, and, by their help, advised Mr. Hoffman to carry with him some presents for his countrymen: for he observed, that though hospitality and the consequence attaching to the stranger's appearance would secure him a good reception, it was desirable that a man with whom he had united himself in the bonds of friendship, should also command respect by his liberality.
They travelled on a broad fine path through forests of fruit trees, and several villages, and considered the population of this district to exceed that in the neighbourhood of Matarai. In the country of Weijoride they began to climb the mountains, and soon entered a charming valley stretching to the south-southwest, and enclosed by high steep rocks, basaltic, like those of Matarai. Down their precipitous sides clothed with the richest green rushed innumerable streamlets to swell the largest and most rapid rivulet on the island, which watered the whole extent of this luxuriant valley. Here the cocoa, palm, and the bread-fruit tree disappear, but bananas and oranges flourishing wild, produce finer and more juicy fruit than our best hot-houses.
A few scattered huts raised on the margin of the little river, gave tokens of human habitation. In one of these, occupied by an old married pair, our travellers passed the first night. Maititi seemed to consider himself quite on a foraging party, and Mr. Hoffman was under the necessity of begging him to moderate his zeal, and leave the care of the entertainment to their host. The old man fetched a pig, and Maititi, with great dexterity, played the part both of butcher and cook. Mr. Hoffman describes the operation of lighting the fire on this occasion, in the following manner:—A Tahaitian took two pieces of wood of different degrees of hardness, laid the softer upon the ground, and very rapidly rubbed its length backwards and forwards with the harder. This made a furrow, in which the dust rubbed from the wood collected, and soon became hot; it was then shaken among dry leaves and burst into a flame. The whole process seemed easy and quick; but Mr. Hoffman could not succeed in it though he made many attempts. Before supper, the master of the house recited a prayer aloud, the family repeating it after him, but not audibly. They then ate a hearty but silent meal, and prayed again before lying down to sleep. The couch offered to Mr. Hoffman was a raised platform in the hut, thickly spread with mats, with a pair of sheets of the Tahaitian manufacture, called Tapa, for its covering.
The volubility of his guides, restrained during the repast by the more important business of satisfying their appetites, now broke out to his great disturbance. They chattered almost incessantly during great part of the night with the host, whom they were probably entertaining with an account of our ship, which he had not yet visited, and of their intercourse with us. Mr. Hoffman, on taking leave in the morning, gave his host a knife, an important present, which the old man received very gratefully, as far exceeding his expectations.
The valley as they proceeded became wilder, but more beautiful: it opened to greater width, the precipices around rose to a thousand feet in height, covered from their black summits down to the valley with green shrubs of a thousand hues, through which cascades glittering like silver in the sun, rushed gurgling and foaming to the river.
At noon the travellers reached a hut inhabited by a friend of Maititi, named Tibu; the owner also of another hut some miles further up, where his wife lived with the pigs and dogs! This being the last station on the road to the Wahiria Lake, it was determined to spend the night here. Before they set forward in the morning, a large pig was tied up, to be prepared for killing on the expected return of Mr. Hoffman and his associates, whom the hospitable Tibu accompanied on the remainder of their journey.