ntled foundations of houses,
constructed of the same material. Large trees and brushwood were
growing rankly among them.

I asked Tonoi how long it was since anyone had lived here. "Me,
tammaree (boy)--plenty kannaker (men) Martair," he replied. "Now,
only poor pehe kannaka (fishermen) left--me born here."

Going down the valley, vegetation of every kind presented a different
aspect from that of the high land.

Chief among the trees of the plain on this island is the "Ati," large
and lofty, with a massive trunk, and broad, laurel-shaped leaves. The
wood is splendid. In Tahiti, I was shown a narrow, polished plank fit
to make a cabinet for a king. Taken from the heart of the tree, it
was of a deep, rich scarlet, traced with yellow veins, and in some
places clouded with hazel.

In the same grove with the regal "AH" you may see the beautiful
flowering "Hotoo"; its pyramid of shining leaves diversified with
numberless small, white blossoms.

Planted with trees as the valley is almost throughout its entire
length, I was astonished to observe so very few which were useful to
the natives: not one in a hundred was a cocoa-nut or bread-fruit
tree.

But here Tonoi again enlightened me. In the sanguinary religious
hostilities which ensued upon the conversion of Christianity of the
first Pomaree, a war-party from Tahiti destroyed (by "girdling" the
bark) entire groves of these invaluable trees. For some time
afterwards they stood stark and leafless in the sun; sad monuments of
the fate which befell the inhabitants of the valley.

CHAPTER LVI.

MOSQUITOES

THE NIGHT following the hunting trip, Long Ghost and myself, after a
valiant defence, had to fly the house on account of the mosquitoes.

And here I cannot avoid relating a story, rife among the natives,
concerning the manner in which these insects were introduced upon the
island.

Some years previous, a whaling captain, touching at an adjoining bay,
got into difficulty with its inhabitants, and at last carried his
complaint before one of the native tribunals; but receiving no
satisfaction, and deeming himself aggrieved, he resolved upon taking
signal revenge. One night, he towed a rotten old water-cask ashore,
and left it in a neglected Taro patch where the ground was warm and
moist. Hence the mosquitoes.

I tried my best to learn the name of this man; and hereby do what I
can to hand it down to posterity. It was Coleman--Nathan Cole-man.
The ship belonged t