I returned from Papara to Papeiti in the company of an officer and his native beauty; we walked the thirty-six miles in a day.  On our way, we passed the hut of the girl’s mother, where we partook of a most splendid dish.  It was composed of bread-fruit, mangoes, and bananas, kneaded together into a paste, and cooked upon hot stones.  It was eaten, while warm, with a sauce of orange juice.

On taking leave, the officer gave the girl a present of a dollar to give her mother; the girl took it as indifferently as if it were not of the slightest value, and her mother did exactly the same, neither of them pronouncing one word of thanks, or manifesting the least sign of satisfaction.

We now and then came upon some portions of the road, the work of public offenders, that were most excellently constructed.  Whenever an Indian is convicted of a crime, he is not chained in a gang, like convicts in Europe, but condemned to make or mend a certain extent of road, and the natives fulfil the tasks thus imposed with such punctuality, that no overseer is ever necessary.  This kind of punishment was introduced under King Pomare, and originated with the natives themselves—­the Europeans have merely continued the practice.

At Punavia we entered the fort, where we refreshed ourselves, in military fashion, with bread, wine, and bacon, and reached our journey’s end at 7 o’clock in the morning.

Besides Papara, I visited also Venus Point, a small tongue of land where Cook observed the transit of Venus.  The stone on which he placed his instruments still remains.  On my way, I passed the grave, or murai, of King Pomare I. It consists of a small piece of ground, surrounded by a stone wall, and covered with a roof of palm-leaves.  Some half-decayed pieces of cloth and portions of wearing apparel were still lying in it.

One of my most interesting excursions, however, was that to Fantaua and the Diadem.  The former is a spot which the Indians considered impregnable; but where, nevertheless, they were well beaten by the French during the last war.  Monsieur Bruat, the governor, was kind enough to lend me his horses, and to allow me the escort of a non-commissioned officer, who could point out to me each position of the Indians and French, as he had himself been in the engagement.

For more than two hours, we proceeded through horrible ravines, thick woods, and rapid mountain torrents.  The ravines often became so narrow as to form so many defiles, with such precipitous and inaccessible sides, that here, as at Thermopylae, a handful of valiant warriors might defy whole armies.  As a natural consequence, the entrance of Fantaua is regarded as the real key to the whole island.  There was no other means of taking it than by scaling one of its most precipitous sides, and pressing forward upon the narrow ledge of rock above, so as to take the enemy in the rear.  The governor, Monsieur Bruat, announced that he would confide this dangerous enterprise to volunteers, and he soon had more than he could employ.  From those chosen, a second selection of only sixty-two men was made:  these divested themselves of every article of clothing save their shoes and drawers, and took no other arms save their muskets.