The Thermometer In
The Poop Cabin, By Night And Day, Ranged Between 80 And
83 Degs., Which Feels Very Pleasant; But With One Degree Or Two
Higher, The Heat Becomes Oppressive.
We passed through
the Low or Dangerous Archipelago, and saw several of
those most curious rings of coral land, just rising above the
water's edge, which have been called Lagoon Islands.
A
long and brilliantly white beach is capped by a margin of
green vegetation; and the strip, looking either way, rapidly
narrows away in the distance, and sinks beneath the horizon
From the mast-head a wide expanse of smooth water can be
seen within the ring. These low hollow coral islands bear
no proportion to the vast ocean out of which they abruptly
rise; and it seems wonderful, that such weak invaders are
not overwhelmed, by the all-powerful and never-tiring waves
of that great sea, miscalled the Pacific.
November 15th. - At daylight, Tahiti, an island which
must for ever remain classical to the voyager in the South
Sea, was in view. At a distance the appearance was not
attractive. The luxuriant vegetation of the lower part could
not yet be seen, and as the clouds rolled past, the wildest
and most precipitous peaks showed themselves towards the
centre of the island. As soon as we anchored in Matavai
Bay, we were surrounded by canoes. This was our Sunday,
but the Monday of Tahiti: if the case had been reversed,
we should not have received a single visit; for the injunction
not to launch a canoe on the sabbath is rigidly obeyed.
After dinner we landed to enjoy all the delights produced
by the first impressions of a new country, and that country
the charming Tahiti.
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