Our line of march was the valley of Tia-auru, down
which a river flows into the sea by Point Venus. This is one of the
principal streams in the island, and its source lies at the base of
the loftiest central pinnacles, which rise to a height of about
7000 feet. The whole island is so mountainous that the only way to
penetrate into the interior is to follow up the valleys. Our road,
at first, lay through woods which bordered each side of the river;
and the glimpses of the lofty central peaks, seen as through an
avenue, with here and there a waving cocoa-nut tree on one side,
were extremely picturesque. The valley soon began to narrow, and
the sides to grow lofty and more precipitous. After having walked
between three and four hours, we found the width of the ravine
scarcely exceeded that of the bed of the stream. On each hand the
walls were nearly vertical; yet from the soft nature of the
volcanic strata, trees and a rank vegetation sprung from every
projecting ledge. These precipices must have been some thousand
feet high; and the whole formed a mountain gorge far more
magnificent than anything which I had ever before beheld. Until the
mid-day sun stood vertically over the ravine, the air felt cool and
damp, but now it became very sultry.
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