Bachapins. Where civilization has arrived at a certain point, complex
formalities soon arise between the different grades of society: thus at
Tahiti all were formerly obliged to uncover themselves as low as the
waist in presence of the king.
The ceremony of pressing noses having been duly completed with all
present, we seated ourselves in a circle in the front of one of the
hovels, and rested there half-an-hour. All the hovels have nearly the
same form and dimensions, and all agree in being filthily dirty. They
resemble a cow-shed with one end open, but having a partition a little
way within, with a square hole in it, making a small gloomy chamber. In
this the inhabitants keep all their property, and when the weather is
cold they sleep there. They eat, however, and pass their time in the
open part in front. My guides having finished their pipes, we
continued our walk. The path led through the same undulating country,
the whole uniformly clothed as before with fern. On our right hand we
had a serpentine river, the banks of which were fringed with trees, and
here and there on the hill sides there was a clump of wood. The whole
scene, in spite of its green colour, had rather a desolate aspect. The
sight of so much fern impresses the mind with an idea of sterility:
this, however, is not correct; for wherever the fern grows thick and
breast-high, the land by tillage becomes productive. Some of the
residents think that all this extensive open country originally was
covered with forests, and that it has been cleared by fire. It is said,
that by digging in the barest spots, lumps of the kind of resin which
flows from the kauri pine are frequently found. The natives had an
evident motive in clearing the country; for the fern, formerly a staple
article of food, flourishes only in the open cleared tracks. The
almost entire absence of associated grasses, which forms so remarkable
a feature in the vegetation of this island, may perhaps be accounted
for by the land having been aboriginally covered with forest-trees.
The soil is volcanic; in several parts we passed over shaggy lavas, and
craters could clearly be distinguished on several of the neighbouring
hills. Although the scenery is nowhere beautiful, and only
occasionally pretty, I enjoyed my walk. I should have enjoyed it more,
if my companion, the chief, had not possessed extraordinary
conversational powers. I knew only three words: "good," "bad," and
"yes:" and with these I answered all his remarks, without of course
having understood one word he said. This, however, was quite
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