Here every vestige of a path disappeared. At a height of seven hundred and eleven feet above the level of the sea, the travellers found enormous blocks of granite lying in a south-easterly direction. The way to Wahiria lay towards the south-south-west. They continued ascending till they reached a marsh in a rocky basin, where wild boars were running about.
Another steep precipice was to be climbed before they could reach the Valley of the Wahiria. This stretches from north to south, and forms an oval, in the centre of which lies the lake, according to barometrical measurement, one thousand four hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea. The surrounding rocks rise perpendicularly more than two thousand feet. The lake is above a mile and a quarter in circumference,[4] and receives the springs from the mountains. A little brook also flows into it from the north, but no channel could be found by which its waters might be carried off. The depth of the lake near the shore is eleven, and in the middle not more than seventeen toises. After Mr. Hoffman had satisfied his curiosity, he returned with his companion to Tibu's hut, and happily reached its shelter before a heavy storm that followed them had begun to discharge its fury. Exhausted by the fatigue of the march, and the oppressive heat, Mr. Hoffman threw himself on his couch to take a little repose, while his companions killed and roasted the pig. The storm now burst in tremendous violence over the hut. The thunder rolled fearfully along the valley, and reverberated from the rocks; the lightnings gave to the thick darkness a momentary illumination equal to the brightness of mid-day, and the rain pouring down in torrents, suddenly swelled the rivulet, near which the frail dwelling was erected, far above its natural channel. Whoever has witnessed a violent storm in the high mountains of a tropical country, will never lose the impression of its awfulness.
The following day being Sunday, Tauru, immediately on rising, repeated a long prayer, and then read a chapter of the New Testament, of which at least one copy was to be found in every hut. After a good breakfast, Mr. Hoffman wished to proceed, but his guides were not to be moved, and threats and entreaties were equally unavailing. They assured him that a continuation of the journey would be a profanation of the Sabbath, a crime for which they would be hanged, should it come to the knowledge of the Missionaries. This was a little too strongly expressed; and the tempting remains of the roasted pig had, no doubt, as much influence in supporting their resolution, as their religious scruples, or their fears of the Missionaries. The next morning they made no objection to setting out. Our travellers were joined on the road by many families, laden with mountain bananas, so that they arrived in a large company at Matarai.
Mr. Hoffman made several other journeys into the interior of the island, and visited Arue, the present residence of the Court. The mineralogical and geological observations made on these excursions, are reserved for a separate treatise; but some particulars concerning his intercourse with the inhabitants, may be properly introduced here.
The houses are merely built of perpendicular bamboo-canes, standing at some distance apart, to give free admission to the air. The roofs of palm-leaves are strong enough to defy the heaviest rain.
As curious after novelty as more civilized infants, the heads of the children were thrust out from every hut he passed, and the parents hospitably asked him in. When he accepted the invitation, he was always conducted to the seat of honour, a raised bench covered with matting and tapa stuff; and, after freely partaking of the best the house afforded, was considered to have paid handsomely for his entertainment with a knife. Bedsteads made of bamboo-canes, and filled with soft matting, are placed along the walls, and make very comfortable, easy couches. These pleasant little abodes, in which the greatest cleanliness is everywhere observable, are all surrounded by cultivated gardens. In the evening, they are lighted by the oily nuts of the taper-tree, fastened in rows on splinters.
Mr. Hoffman's visit to the house of his friend Maititi, excited the greatest joy. His host presented to him his wife and children, and entertained him in the most splendid manner his means would allow.
In the capital Mr. Hoffman found nothing remarkable. The palace inhabited by the Royal Family, was a spacious hut, with an ante-chamber or outer house, in which eight of the guard kept watch. Their only weapon was an old pistol fastened on a plank; this was frequently fired, probably to accustom the young King to the tumult of battle. The old King lies buried under a stone monument, in front of which three guns are kept; but, to prevent accidents, they are nailed up.
We have already mentioned the trade in cocoa-oil carried on by the Tahaitians, and the ship possessed by the Queen. This is commanded by an Englishman, and a part of the crew is also English. It was just returned from a voyage among the Society Islands, where it had been to collect tribute, and was preparing to carry a cargo of cocoa-oil, stowed in thick bamboo-canes, to Port Jackson. From the Captain, who visited me, I gained much information concerning the present state of affairs in these seas. He had learnt from ships returned from the Friendly Islands, that their King had recently conquered the Navigator Islands, which now paid tribute to him.