be a production of native genius, rather than
the handiwork of a Parisian tailor. The
King was bare-footed.

The Queen's ladies in waiting, four in
number, were dressed in blouses of white
muslin. They also had flowers for ear ornaments,
and wreaths in their hair. Their
manners and deportment were not devoid of
grace. These young ladies danced quadrilles
with some of the French officers; but it was
painful to see them dance with their bare
feet; and I was continually apprehensive that
their toes would be trodden on by their partners'
boots. Except the Queen and her Consort,
none of the natives had shoes or stockings.
A few of the more elderly females wore faded
old-fashioned bonnets for head-dresses; and
several young mothers were accompanied by
their children—even infants in arms.

A short time before supper was announced,
the Queen withdrew into an adjoining apartment
to smoke a cigar; and whilst her
Majesty was thus engaged, her Consort
amused himself by a game at billiards.

At supper, I had the honour of sitting between
Prince Albert of Tahiti and the canary-
coloured King of Otoume. Both were sufficiently
initiated in the rules of good breeding
to show me such ordinary marks of attention
as filling my glass with water or with wine,
helping me to the dishes near them. It was
evident that they took vast pains to imitate
European manners. Nevertheless some of
the guests now and then committed themselves,
by doing the most extraordinary
things. The Queen herself, having desired
an attendant to bring her a plate, placed upon
it a large assortment of sweetmeats and
dainties, which her Majesty selected for the purpose
of carrying them home with her. It was
also found necessary to check several of her
company in their too copious libations of champagne;
but, on the whole, the party, though
exceedingly merry, was tolerably decorous.

I subsequently dined several times with
the Royal Family at the residence of the
Governor. On those occasions, the Queen, as
well as her husband, appeared in the national
costume—the coloured pareo, and the loose
upper garment; both were barefooted. The
heir to the throne, a boy of nine years of age,
is already betrothed to the daughter of a
neighbouring king. The future bride, who is
two or three years older than the prince,
resides at the court of Queen Pomare. She
has been brought up in the Christian religion,
and has been taught the English language.

Tati, the principal native chief of the
island, who had come to the port to be present
at the festivities of the 1st of May, was
now about to return, with his family, to his
residence at Papara; and a French officer,
who was to escort the chief, proposed that I
should join the party. To this proposition
I very readily acceded; and on the 4th of
May we embarked in a sailing-boat to proceed
along the coast to Papara, a distance of
thirty-six nautical miles. Tati, the chief, a
venerable old man, ninety years of age, perfectly
well remembered the landing of Captain
Cook. His father, at that time first chief of
the island, formed a close friendship with
Cook; and, in conformity with a custom then
prevalent in Tahiti, he changed names with
the English navigator.

Tati receives from the French Government
an annual pension of six thousand francs,
which, at his death, will revert to his eldest
son. He had with him his wife, a young
woman, apparently about twenty-five years of
age, and five of his children, the offspring of
a previous marriage. The lady who travelled
with us was his fifth wife.

We passed several interesting points as
we sailed along the coast. Nor was the
sea itself less interesting than the romantic
scenery on shore. Our little skiff glided
over shallows, where, through the clear
crystal current, every pebble,—nay, almost
every grain of sand was perceptible. Looking
down through the translucent waves, I
beheld groups of coral and madrepore presenting
such exquisite masses of form and
colour, that I could readily have lent faith to
the fanciful superstition which supposes the
existence of fairy gardens at the bottom of the
sea. In the wide-spreading ramifications of
marine vegetation might be pictured miniature
groves and arabesque parterres, interspersed
here and there with hillocks of sponge.
Multitudes of little transparent fishes darted
to and fro, revelling in colour and radiance,
the variegated hues of the butterfly, and the
brightness of the glow-worn. These tiny
fishes were scarcely an inch in length. For
splendour of colouring, I scarcely ever beheld
any thing to equal them. Some were of
clear azure blue, some bright yellow, and
others, nearly transparent, exhibited richly
shaded tints of brown and green.

We had left Papeiti about noon; and at
six o'clock, when the sun was setting, it 'was
resolved that we should not pursue our course
further that evening, as the numerous rugged
cliffs which fringe that part of the coast render
the passage somewhat unsafe after dark. We
therefore landed at Paya (a place situated
about twenty-two miles from Papeiti) of
which the sixth son of Tati is the ruling chief.

In honour of his father's visit, the young
chief ordered a supper to be prepared. A
pig was accordingly killed, and cooked in the
Tahitian fashion. A hollow dug in the ground
contained a number of stones, round which a
fierce fire was kindled. Meanwhile bread-
tree fruits were skinned and divided into
halves by a sharp wooden hatchet. When
the fire burned up, and the stones were suf-
ficiently heated, the pig and the bread-fruits
were put into the oven, and heated stones
laid over them. The whole was then covered
over with leaves, branches of trees, and
finally with a layer of earth.

Whilst the supper was being cooked by