Polynesian., 1844-07-13
LEAVES FROM MEMoRY's NOTE BOOK.
Z 2.

The pilot at Papeite is a native, and ap-
pears to be a capable and intelligent man.
The climate Of Tahiti, l should not Judge to
be as favorable as that of Oahu. The aver
age range of the thermometer is higher;
more rain falls, and the heat of the sun causes
a constant evaporation, and miasma, to arise
from the numerous water runs, and the dense
beds of vegetable deposits, which lie beneath
the trees. But these %noxious influences are
greatly counteracted by the strong sea-
b%reezes, bringing as they do a refreshing
current of air from the ocean, which dispels
the vapors of the land, and invigorates the
inhabitants, debilitated by the Gains of the
early morning. OF all the numerous trees
and vegetables, which, on this island, seem
to be engaged in a struggle for the mastery,
the Guava has attained a formidable ascen-
dancy. The rear of the town, as far as the
hills, which was once a plain, rich in grass
and various fruit trees, is now, for many
miles, a thicket of guava trees. They grow
together, with their branches interlocked, SO
as to present an almost impenetrable barrier.
Orange, lime, cocoa nut, bread-fruit, ohia,
and other trees, and even the grass, have
given way before its rapid growth; in short,
it has choked out all the other vegeta-
ton, and is yearly gaining ground upon the
cultivated lands. 1t is a formidable foe to
the feeble agriculture of the islanders, but
would soon fall before the better, and more
efficient efforts of European farming. A
path leads through a portion of it to the
banks of a pretty %rivulet, the ~favorite bathing
resort of the inhabitants. The branches
overhang the path SO as to form a perfect
screen from the sun, and the fruit, which is
really delicious, hangs in tempting array
within reach of the hand. The ground is
also strewn with the over-ripe guavas, which
have fallen from their parent stems. These
afford food for cattle and swine. Tahiti pork
is unlike any l have eaten elsewhere. 1t is
of the most delicate, and delicious flavor;
more like the choicest %wild-game, than the
fattened brute of the farm-yard. This supe-
rior flavor l attribute, greatly, to the fruit
diet of the animals, which stroll at large in
the forest.
Tahiti was first discovered in 1905, by the
Spanish navigator, Pedro Fernandez de
Quiros, who sailed from Callao on a voyage
of discovery in the Pacific ocean. 1t was on
the 10th of February that he first saw this
island, which, from its shape, in the position
that he approached it, he named Sagitaria,
or, the Bow. We have no further notice OF
it for a century and a half, until Capt. Wal
lis reached its shores in June 1867. Bou-
granville, the succeeding year, spent eight
days on the island, and it is from his repre-
sentation of its eXuberant fertility, pictur-
esque scenery, and voluptuous inhabitants,
that its early European reputation was de-
rived. Cook came next, fifteen months from
his departure. A longer stay, and better
opportunities, enabled him to present to the
world a more correct description. Dixon,
Portlock, Edwards, Vancouver, La Perousc,
and Marchand, and other navigators, soon
followed, so that Tahiti was well known to
the scientific and commercial world, while
fthe Hawaiian group remained undiscovered
1t is a curious fact, when taken in relation
with the recent unhappy controversies which
have sprung up between the Protestant, and
Romish missionaries, that both the Society
and Hawaiian islands were visited by mis-