The morning was hazy and unfavorable for the strength of impression which the sublimity and loveliness of the scenery is calculated to make.

In this particularly in reference to my fellowvoyagers-I felt a disappointment. The image left in my mind, by a first sight of the same section of Tahiti in 1825, when on our voyage from the Sandwich Islands to England, was still so beautiful and so vivid, that I had hoped every circumstance in making the land at this time, would have been equally propitious to a similar effect on those now with me.

Scarce any scene before beheld, had excited an admiration equal to that I then experienced. We had not yet made land, when I retired to rest the night previous; a fine moon, however, enabled us to press on without hazard; and, at the dawn of the day, we were close on the shores of the district of Matavia. It was not yet sunrise, when I went on deck; but the whole heavens were filled with the glow and richness of the near approach of "the king of day," and sufficient light was already cast upon the island, not only to disclose its general formation, but to present every distinct feature along the coast and in the mountains above, in the fullness of its verdure and beauty. The wild peaks and bare cliffs towering high in the centre of the island were uncovered, and in strong illumination from the sun, still beneath a watery bed. A belt of vaporish cloud hung midway on the purple sides of the mountains beneath, while the rich lowland-a mile and more in width-intervening between their bases and

10.

BOARDED BY A NATIVE

the beach, heavily covered with groves of the breadfruit, cocoanut, and other luxuriant tropical growth, stood in the purity of the morning, with a refreshing nearness and beauty on the sight.

Spacious chapels of the purest white, with numerous lofty doors and windows-seeming in my eye, after a residence of three years at the Sandwich Islands, in the early stages of improvement there, like so many palaces amidst their palmy groves—— were seen, at intervals of two and three miles, along the water's edge, while the plastered and whitened habitations of the missionaries and chieftains, and the cottages of the common people, studded the shores in long perspective, till, at a distance of five and six miles on either side, low points, richly covered with cocoanut trees, terminated the view.

The most conspicuous objects were now still the same; but, with a noonday sun and misty atmosphere, they were seen under every disadvantage of shade and coloring, and excited a less lively admiration, than they otherwise would have done.

While two or three miles from Point Venus, we were boarded by a boat containing one of the inferior magistrates of the district, in a dress of nankeen pantaloons, round jacket of blue silk, white shirt, and black cravat, with a Guayaquil hat. He introduced himself with great civility, and tendered his services to pilot the ship into the bay; but Captain Finch learning from him, that there was a regular pilot appointed by the government, declined the offer till he should come off, and till Mr. Lardner, our sailing master, should go in with a cutter and

AND BRING SHIP TO ANCHOR.

11

make some observation for himself, as to the best anchorage.

In the meantime a boat was lowered, and Lieutenant Dornin dispatched on a visit to the Rev. Mr. Wilson, the resident missionary at Matavia. Having a slight personal acquaintance with Mr. Wilson, I accompanied him. We were received very kindly by this gentleman on the beach, and accompanied him to his cottage, a few rods distant, on the bank of a considerable river, running from the mountains through this part of the district. Finding him at leisure to go off to the ship, and knowing that our return would be looked for with impatience, after an introduction to Mrs. Wilson and her daughters, and a few moments conversation, we took our leave till the Vincennes should be at anchor.

The trade-wind was blowing very fresh, with a heavy sea for a small boat, and the row off was tedious and unpleasant; we reached the ship without accident, however, and the pilot having at the same time joined her, we passed round the Dolphin-as a shoal, extending from Point Venus some distance along the shore, is called-and dropped anchor inside of it, within a mile of the beach, nearly opposite a high red bank, called "one tree hill."

Mr. Wilson remained to dinner with the captain, and then landed to secure permission from the proper authorities, for the interment of a lad who had died on board, the night previous, of a consumption. Some objection was at first made by the natives, lest the disease, with which he had died, might have been contagious; but when assured, that this was not the case, a grave was prepared in the burial ground of

12

GENERAL APPEARANCE OF

the chapel; in which, at sunset, with slow procession and an admonitory service, we deposited the body-there to rest till "time shall be no longer."

I remained at Mr. Wilson's to tea, in company with the captain and surgeon; and passed most of the evening at his cottage, in agreeable conversation. It was nine o'clock before we returned to the ship; the row off was delightful-a fine moon throwing a double charm, by its brightness, over the loveliness of the scenery around.

From an early hour in the morning till noon today, the Vincennes was crowded with people from the shore, bringing various articles of refreshment and curiosity, for trade and barter. Ignorance of the comparative value of the articles they have to dispose of, and those they wish to secure; and anxious to make the exchange at the highest rate of gain on their part, the exorbitance of their demands and their seeming cupidity, are in some cases such, as to be exceedingly vexatious to those attempting to deal with them; but, there is nothing of the wild shouting, rudeness, and nakedness, so annoying at Nukuhiva -nor any thing in their whole appearance that is offensive, or indicative of any trait of character not to be found, in every market-place in a civilized and Christian country.

The effect produced on them by our band, in comparison with that on the Nukuhivans, was very striking, and very pleasing. It is long since they have acquired a taste for the combination of sounds characterizing the music of European countries; and since, they have learned themselves to sing various parts in sacred music, with correctness and some de

THE PEOPLE AND EFFECT OF THE MUSIC. 13

gree of taste. Though the Nukuhivans would listen to the band for a first time, with a kind of wonder and momentary gratification, it was evident they had no particular relish for the style of music, or harmony of sounds produced by it; and, doubtless, thought it unequal, in the pleasure it afforded, to the monotonous beat of the drum, and the dull recitative of their own songs-but here, when the musicians were ordered on deck, hundreds clustered round in the manifest expectation of a rich enjoyment; and the moment they commenced playing, they hung in the rigging and upon the guns, in a silent delight, which none could avoid observing; while many evidently drank in the strains of varied harmony, with all the luxury of enjoyment of so many amateurs at home, at the performance of the first masters in the country.

During the forenoon we had a visit from the chief justice of the island-a respectable-looking, welldressed, and dignified old man-at present at Matavai for the trial of several persons accused of sedition. He held a court at sunrise this morning, which I should have been glad to have attended, had I been apprised of it in time. Two or three persons were convicted of the transgression of special laws, and received the sentence annexed to the respective statutes broken.

You are aware, that before the death of Pomare II.; in 1821, a regular code of laws-including an equitable judiciary, and the important right of trial by jury-adapted to the state into which the nation had been brought, by a conversion from paganism to