In The Less Precipitous Parts We Passed Through
Extensive Groves Of The Wild Banana.
The Tahitians, with
their naked, tattooed bodies, their heads ornamented with
flowers, and seen in the dark shade of these groves, would
have formed a fine picture of man inhabiting some primeval
land.
In our descent we followed the line of ridges; these
were exceedingly narrow, and for considerable lengths steep
as a ladder; but all clothed with vegetation. The extreme
care necessary in poising each step rendered the walk fatiguing.
I did not cease to wonder at these ravines and
precipices: when viewing the country from one of the knife-
edged ridges, the point of support was so small, that the
effect was nearly the same as it must be from a balloon. In
this descent we had occasion to use the ropes only once, at
the point where we entered the main valley. We slept under
the same ledge of rock where we had dined the day before:
the night was fine, but from the depth and narrowness of the
gorge, profoundly dark.
Before actually seeing this country, I found it difficult
to understand two facts mentioned by Ellis; namely, that
after the murderous battles of former times, the survivors
on the conquered side retired into the mountains, where a
handful of men could resist a multitude. Certainly half
a dozen men, at the spot where the Tahitian reared the old
tree, could easily have repulsed thousands. Secondly, that
after the introduction of Christianity, there were wild men
who lived in the mountains, and whose retreats were unknown
to the more civilized inhabitants.
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