"In the resident part of the town nearly every house stands in its own garden, and the most of these gardens are prettily laid out. There are good roads in and around the place, and we have had some charming drives, sometimes in carriages, which we hired at one of the hotels, and sometimes by invitation of the residents. We have had a most hospitable reception, and everybody from the Governor down has tried to make us enjoy our visit.
"The English consul invited us to dine at his country residence, and afterwards treated us to a moonlight excursion on the water. It was very pretty, as the lagoon was as calm as a mirror, and there were many boats out at the same time. The natives seem to be a careless, fun-loving people. Wherever there is a group of them there is always more or less laughter going on, and they seem to be constantly playing harmless little jokes on one another. The evenings here are delightful, and it is the custom to go out after dinner. The favorite resort is the lawn near the Government-house; a band from one of the ships-of-war plays there every evening, and always has a large audience. The natives are very fond of music, and when it is lively they fall to dancing on the green turf.
"The population of the two clusters that form the Society group is said to be a little less than twenty thousand, three-fourths of them belonging to the Tahitian cluster and one-fourth to the north-western. The native population of this island is about eight thousand. There are about one thousand Chinese on the islands, eight hundred French, two hundred and fifty British subjects, and one hundred and fifty Americans, and perhaps one hundred of other nationalities.
"They tell us that we can drive in a carriage all the way around Tahiti, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles, and that we can hardly go a mile of this distance without coming to a stream of clear water rolling or rippling down from the mountains. Most of these streams are simply rivulets or brooks, but some of them are rivers too large and deep to be forded. Some of these rivers have been bridged, but where this has not been done they must be crossed by ferry-boats. Villages are scattered at intervals of a few miles, and any one who undertakes the journey can be comfortably lodged every night, especially if he sends a courier in advance to arrange matters for him. Colonel Bush had an idea of making the journey, but concluded it would be tiresome long before the circuit was completed, and so the scheme was abandoned.
"One of the early missionaries brought some orange-trees here, and they were found admirably adapted to the soil and climate of Tahiti. You see orange-groves or orange-trees everywhere, and we have never found finer oranges in any part of the world. It is a curious fact that the best trees are those which have grown from seed scattered carelessly about without any thought of planting; in nearly every case they are finer and more productive than those which have been carefully cultivated and transplanted.
"The French have a jardin d'essai, or Experimental Garden, where trees and plants from all parts of the world are cultivated with a view to finding those best adapted to Tahiti. As a result of this garden and other importations, the Tahitians now have mangoes, limes, shaddocks, citrons, guavas, custard-apples, tamarinds, peaches, figs, grapes, pineapples, watermelons, cucumbers, cabbages, and other fruits and vegetables of whose existence the people were entirely ignorant a hundred years ago.
"The French Government has a garrison of about four hundred soldiers in Tahiti, with a large staff of officials of various kinds—naval, military, and civil. The Governor is a personage of great local importance, as he has very liberal powers and can do pretty much as he likes. We found him a very pleasant gentleman. He invited all our party to a reception at the Government-house, and the officers of his staff showed us many attentions.
A FRENCH BISHOP.