On the whole, the Government of the Second of December appears to regard Tahiti simply as a military outpost and naval station, and to attach little value to the evident future commercial importance of the island. If, however, there are behind this ostensible indifference no secret views, or political arrière-pensées involved, it must undoubtedly be pronounced most unjust and unwise. True, Tahiti possesses but a small proportion of surface suitable for cultivation; true, with the exception of oranges,[86] there is hardly any natural product exported,[87] the produce of the island barely sufficing to support its own population; but, apart from its extremely favourable geographical position, and the vegetable profusion of this and the adjoining islands, Tahiti might, under able administration, be made a sort of general emporium for the
interchange of the products of Polynesia against the fabrics of Europe.
The total superficial area of Tahiti amounts to 104,215 hectares, 79,485 of which form Tahiti proper and the isthmus of Taravao, while the peninsula of Taiarapu comprises the remaining 24,730. The greater portion of this surface is occupied by mountains, only a very small proportion being devoted to tillage. At the mouths of several of the rivers are small strips of arable land, of which the plains of Taunoa (near Papeete), Point Venus, Pusenaura, Papara, Papeuriri, and Papeari, as also the delta of the river Fautáua, on the peninsula of Taiarapu, are the most important.
All these level grounds put together do not amount to more than from 2200 to 2500 hectares, while the swampy state of much of even this small area renders many portions fit only for the cultivation of taro and rice.[88]
The climate of Tahiti is uncommonly salubrious and delightful; the temperature is tolerably uniform, and is sensibly moderated by the alternate land and sea-breezes. Only about mid-day, when there usually sets in that profound calm, which the French, in their elegant epigrammatic way, style l'immobilité des feuilles, the heat becomes absolutely oppressive, but the mornings and evenings are cool, and the air very refreshing.
The average maximum temperature during the rainy season is 84°.4 Fahr., the average minimum 74°.6 Fahr. Only immediately prior to the outbreak of a storm does the fluctuation of the thermometer become strongly marked. In the dry season the temperature averages 80°.6 Fahr. during the day, and 68° Fahr. during the night. When, however, as occasionally happens, the temperature at Papeete sinks to 57°.2 Fahr. and at Fautáua to 46°.4 Fahr., or even lower, even the Europeans are compelled to adopt certain precautions against taking cold, which the natives for the most part disregard, and are accordingly liable to acute inflammatory disorders.
With such a temperature, combined with the fertility insured by the volcanic tufa soil, it is perfectly evident that the majority of the tropical and sub-tropical nut-bearing and other alimentary plants might be extensively grown upon the island without much difficulty. The sugar-cane, the coffee-tree, the cotton-shrub, the vanilla, the cocoa-tree, the indigo plant, the sorgho[89], rice, maize, &c., flourish here in a marked degree, and their persistent cultivation would realize a splendid profit for the landowner.
Of fruits there are bananas, bread-fruits, mangoes, ananas
(pine-apples), papayas (carica papayi), pandanus fruit, cocoa-nuts, oranges, lemons, anonas (a kind of custard apple), guavas, &c. The chief sustenance of the natives consists of the following:—
I. The féi, or wild plantain (Musa Féi, or Musa Rubra), of which there are five varieties. It is first encountered at an elevation of from 600 to 800 feet above the sea, grows most luxuriantly between the zones of 1000 and 1500 feet, is of a very peculiar saffron-yellow colour, and is usually either roasted or boiled.