I found the
chief Tati to be a lively old man nearly ninety years of age, who
remembered perfectly the second landing of the celebrated
circumnavigator of the globe, Captain Cook. His father was, at that
period, the principal chief, and had concluded a friendly alliance
with Cook, and, according to the custom then prevalent at Tahiti,
had changed names with him.
Tati enjoys from the French government a yearly pension of 6,000
francs (240 pounds), which, after his death, will fall to his eldest
son.
He had with him his young wife and five of his sons; the former was
twenty-three years old, and the ages of the latter varied from
twelve to eighteen. The children were all the offspring of other
marriages, this being his fifth wife.
As we had not left Papeiti till nearly noon, and as the sun sets
soon after six o'clock, and the passage between the numberless rocks
is highly dangerous, we landed at Paya (22 miles), where a sixth son
of Tati's ruled as chief.
The island is intersected in all directions by noble mountains, the
loftiest of which, the Oroena, is 6,200 feet high. In the middle of
the island the mountains separate, and a most remarkable mass of
rock raises itself from the midst of them.
