TABU ON BOARD SHIP.

207

gig in a row round the harbour, or rather that part ofit within our anchorage. The excursion was delight-ful, and the scenery, mantled in the softness of asunset tint, certainly as wild, if not as beautiful, asany I ever gazed on.

LETTER XXVI.

VALLEY OF TAIOHAE.

First Visit on Shore.—Manner of Building.—Presents to theChiefs.—Exhibitions of a Warrior.—Tahua, or Opera House .—A Temple in Ruins.—Illustrations of the Tabu_Forfei-

ture by Tabu.—Canoe of State.—Dress of the Chiefs andParty.

U. S. Ship Vincennes, Nukuhiva ,July 28th, 1829.

The reveille had scarce been beaten this morning,before the Vincennes was surrounded by the noise,loud talking, hallooing, and various rude merrimentof the islanders. Finding the ship strictly tabu, theytook possession, by permission of the officer of thedeck, of the launch, which had been hoisted outand moored at a little distance, and crowded her tillher gunwales, though a heavy boat, were almostlevel with the water. As the white flag has notbeen hoisted during the day, they have been obligedto content themselves with that accommodation.

While taking a bath with Captain Finch, beforebreakfast, at a retired spot on the eastern shore, thechiefs we saw yesterday came to us, accompanied byan Englishman named Morrison. He has residedhere several years, as a collector of sandal wood; and