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 15, 1835.
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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