Aumgiu-st. about twelve years old, had always been particularly attached
to the Europeans, and being extremely quick of ap-
prehenfion, underftood us much better at half a word,
than many of his countrymen with all the geftures we
could invent, and after we had ranfacked our vocabularies.
This boy, who, with a dark almoft chefnut-brown colour,combined
a fet of pleafing, good-natured features,- had agreed
the evening before, to became our guide on this day’s ex-
curfion. At our approach we found his mother, who had
provided a number of coco-nuts and fome other provifions-
for us, fitting on the ftones before her cottage, and her
children affemblcd about her, the yourtgcft of which was
not above four years old. She feemed to be acStrve enough,-
but however of fuch an age, that we had fome difficulty
to believe her the mother of fuch- young children, in a
country where we knew that the commerce of the fexes
begins at an early age. The arrival of a well-looking woman,
about three or four and twenty years old, who was
Noona’s eldeft lifter, foon accounted for the wrinkles on
her mother’s brow. Inftead of verifying the general ob-
fervation, that women in hot countries lofe their fightlinefs
much fooner than with us, we had now reafon to be fur-
prifed, that they fliould be fo prolific here, as to bear
children during a period of almoft twenty -years. It was
natural that our thoughts fhould return to the happy fim-
plicity in which the life of the Taheitians fmoothly rolls
along,
along, and which, undifturbed by cares and wants, is the
caufe of the great population of their illand.
A flout fellow, whom we hired for a few beads, carried
the provifions which the hofpitable old woman had offered
us, fufpending them in equal portions on the two extremities
of a ftrong pole, about four feet long, which he
placed on his Ihoulder. Young Noona, and his little
brother Toparree, about four years old, cheerfully accom.-
panied us, after we had enriched the whole family with-
beads, nails, looking-glaffes, and knives.
The firft part of our march was a little difficulty on account
of a hill on which we mounted, in hopes of meeting
with fomething to reward our trouble. But, contrary-
to our expeditions, we found it entirely deftitute of plants,
two dwarfifh fhrubs, and a fpecies of dry fern excepted.
Here, however, we were much furprifed to fee a large flock
of wild ducks rifing before us, from a fpot which was perfectly
dry and barren, without our being able to imagine
what had brought them thither from the reeds and marfliy
banks of the river, where they commonly refided. We
foon croffed another hill, where all the ferns and bullies
having lately been burnt, blackened our clothes as we
paffed through them. From thence we defcended into a
fertile valley, where a fine rivulet, which we were obliged
to crofs feveral times, ran towards the fea. The natives
had placed feveral ftone weirs acrofs this rivulet, in order