[56] Commanded by Captain Wilkes, recently so notorious by his conduct with reference to the English mail steamer _Trent_, in Nov. 1861.
[58] Of this wonderful bird a cast was moulded in gypsum, and has been sent to the great International Exhibition, 1862.
[Illustration: Native Fête to the Governor]
Duration of Stay From 11th To 28th January, 1859.
State of the island at the close of last century.--The London Missionary Society and its emissaries.--Great mortality among the native population.--First arrival of Catholic Priests in Oceania.--French Protectorate and its consequences.--The Tahitian Parliament and Tahitian debaters.--William Howe.--Adam Kulczycki.--Scientific aims and achievements.--The Catholic mission.--_Pré Catalan_ and native dances.--Prisoners of war from New Caledonia.--Point Venus.--Guava-fields.--The fort of Fautáua.--Lake Waiiria.--Popular _Fête_ at Faáa.--Ball given by the Governor.--Queen Pomáre.--Geographical notes on Tahiti and Eimeo.--Climate.--Vegetation.--The Kawa root, and the intoxicating drink produced from it.--Great expense of the French Stations in Oceania.--Projects of reform.--Results of English and French colonization.--Two convicts.--Departure.--The Whaler _Emily Morgan_.--Attempt to fix the zero point of magnetic declination.--"Colique végétale."--A victim.--Pitcairn Island.--A fire-side tale of the tropical world.--An accident without ill results.--Humboldt's Current.--Arrival at Valparaiso.
Of all the innumerable islands of the vast Pacific, there is none which at various periods has attracted the attention and aroused the interest of the civilized world in the same degree as that in whose harbour we were now lying at anchor. At first it was the inimitable grace of Cook's narrative of his stay in Otaheite,[60] and the simplicity and felicity of its inhabitants, that left a deep and permanent impression on the mind of the educated reader; in after-times occurrences of a political nature riveted the sympathy of Europe upon this distant island and its queen.
Before entering upon a description of the present condition of Tahiti we may be permitted to cast a hasty retrospect as to the state of the group when the first English missionaries arrived on the Society Islands.