POINT VENUSEvery visitor to Tahiti should visit Point Venus, as it is a historic place near where the Europeans made their first landings in Matavai Bay, and where the first white settlers cast their lot with the natives. It is in this neighborhood where the English missionaries established their permanent home and from here spread the new tidings of the gospel over the entire island. They labored in vain for nearly twenty years, when all at once a religious wave swept over the island which resulted in the speedy Christianization of almost the entire population. I have already referred to Point Venus as the place where the government lighthouse is located and where Captain Cook had his headquarters when he and the scientists who accompanied him observed the transit of Venus by order of the English government in the year 1769. The place where the scientific observations were made is marked by a modest monument of stone surrounded by an iron railing, on which are inscribed the data commemorative of the work accomplished. Close by this monument, on the most prominent point, has been erected the lighthouse which guides the mariner in approaching the island during the night. The distance from Papeete to Point Venus is seven miles, over a macadamized road which we found in a somewhat neglected condition. Two native villages, Pirae and Arue, are passed on the way, and a third, Haapape, is close by. The road leads through groves of cocoa-palms, primeval forests and jungles, and a part of it skirts the foot-hills of the towering mountains. Most of the time the beautiful lagoon, dotted here and there with fishermen's canoes, is in sight. The calmness of the air, the solemnity of the surroundings and the sight of these canoes on the unruffled lagoon, reminded us ofLow stir of leaves and dip of oarsAnd lapsing waves on quiet shores.WHITTIER.Some of the more daring fishermen we saw outside of the reef, in the same frail crafts, battling with a rougher sea, but the skilled use of their very primitive paddles kept the canoes in good motion and steady, and it seemedShe walks the waters like a thing of life,And seems to dare the elements to strife,BYRON.Matavai Bay, which the road follows for a considerable distance, is a beautiful sheet of water. It was in this bay that the ships of the early voyagers found a resting-place, and where on its shore the first white men touched the soil of Tahiti and came face to face with a people who had never heard of a world outside of the islands of the Pacific. The scenery all along this drive is truly tropical. The floral wealth is great and its variety endless. It was on this drive I found the passion-flower in full bloom and exquisite beauty.Near Point Venus we met a gang of natives, in charge of the chief of the district, engaged in repairing the road. All except the chief were in loin-cloths as their only article of dress. They worked leisurely, and smoked and chatted in a way that showed that they were happy even when bearing the burden of the day and the scorching rays of the tropic sun, with nothing in view for their ten-o'clock breakfast but the cool mountain water instead of coffee, breadfruit or plantain (fei) for bread, and some fruit gathered in the woods on their way to work.The round trip from Papeete to Point Venus can be made in three hours, and gives one a very excellent idea of the general topography of the island and is replete with both pleasure and profit.
POINT VENUSEvery visitor to Tahiti should visit Point Venus, as it is a historic place near where the Europeans made their first landings in Matavai Bay, and where the first white settlers cast their lot with the natives. It is in this neighborhood where the English missionaries established their permanent home and from here spread the new tidings of the gospel over the entire island. They labored in vain for nearly twenty years, when all at once a religious wave swept over the island which resulted in the speedy Christianization of almost the entire population. I have already referred to Point Venus as the place where the government lighthouse is located and where Captain Cook had his headquarters when he and the scientists who accompanied him observed the transit of Venus by order of the English government in the year 1769. The place where the scientific observations were made is marked by a modest monument of stone surrounded by an iron railing, on which are inscribed the data commemorative of the work accomplished. Close by this monument, on the most prominent point, has been erected the lighthouse which guides the mariner in approaching the island during the night. The distance from Papeete to Point Venus is seven miles, over a macadamized road which we found in a somewhat neglected condition. Two native villages, Pirae and Arue, are passed on the way, and a third, Haapape, is close by. The road leads through groves of cocoa-palms, primeval forests and jungles, and a part of it skirts the foot-hills of the towering mountains. Most of the time the beautiful lagoon, dotted here and there with fishermen's canoes, is in sight. The calmness of the air, the solemnity of the surroundings and the sight of these canoes on the unruffled lagoon, reminded us ofLow stir of leaves and dip of oarsAnd lapsing waves on quiet shores.WHITTIER.Some of the more daring fishermen we saw outside of the reef, in the same frail crafts, battling with a rougher sea, but the skilled use of their very primitive paddles kept the canoes in good motion and steady, and it seemedShe walks the waters like a thing of life,And seems to dare the elements to strife,BYRON.Matavai Bay, which the road follows for a considerable distance, is a beautiful sheet of water. It was in this bay that the ships of the early voyagers found a resting-place, and where on its shore the first white men touched the soil of Tahiti and came face to face with a people who had never heard of a world outside of the islands of the Pacific. The scenery all along this drive is truly tropical. The floral wealth is great and its variety endless. It was on this drive I found the passion-flower in full bloom and exquisite beauty.Near Point Venus we met a gang of natives, in charge of the chief of the district, engaged in repairing the road. All except the chief were in loin-cloths as their only article of dress. They worked leisurely, and smoked and chatted in a way that showed that they were happy even when bearing the burden of the day and the scorching rays of the tropic sun, with nothing in view for their ten-o'clock breakfast but the cool mountain water instead of coffee, breadfruit or plantain (fei) for bread, and some fruit gathered in the woods on their way to work.The round trip from Papeete to Point Venus can be made in three hours, and gives one a very excellent idea of the general topography of the island and is replete with both pleasure and profit.
Every visitor to Tahiti should visit Point Venus, as it is a historic place near where the Europeans made their first landings in Matavai Bay, and where the first white settlers cast their lot with the natives. It is in this neighborhood where the English missionaries established their permanent home and from here spread the new tidings of the gospel over the entire island. They labored in vain for nearly twenty years, when all at once a religious wave swept over the island which resulted in the speedy Christianization of almost the entire population. I have already referred to Point Venus as the place where the government lighthouse is located and where Captain Cook had his headquarters when he and the scientists who accompanied him observed the transit of Venus by order of the English government in the year 1769. The place where the scientific observations were made is marked by a modest monument of stone surrounded by an iron railing, on which are inscribed the data commemorative of the work accomplished. Close by this monument, on the most prominent point, has been erected the lighthouse which guides the mariner in approaching the island during the night. The distance from Papeete to Point Venus is seven miles, over a macadamized road which we found in a somewhat neglected condition. Two native villages, Pirae and Arue, are passed on the way, and a third, Haapape, is close by. The road leads through groves of cocoa-palms, primeval forests and jungles, and a part of it skirts the foot-hills of the towering mountains. Most of the time the beautiful lagoon, dotted here and there with fishermen's canoes, is in sight. The calmness of the air, the solemnity of the surroundings and the sight of these canoes on the unruffled lagoon, reminded us of
Low stir of leaves and dip of oarsAnd lapsing waves on quiet shores.WHITTIER.
Low stir of leaves and dip of oars
And lapsing waves on quiet shores.
WHITTIER.
Some of the more daring fishermen we saw outside of the reef, in the same frail crafts, battling with a rougher sea, but the skilled use of their very primitive paddles kept the canoes in good motion and steady, and it seemed
She walks the waters like a thing of life,And seems to dare the elements to strife,BYRON.
She walks the waters like a thing of life,
And seems to dare the elements to strife,
BYRON.
Matavai Bay, which the road follows for a considerable distance, is a beautiful sheet of water. It was in this bay that the ships of the early voyagers found a resting-place, and where on its shore the first white men touched the soil of Tahiti and came face to face with a people who had never heard of a world outside of the islands of the Pacific. The scenery all along this drive is truly tropical. The floral wealth is great and its variety endless. It was on this drive I found the passion-flower in full bloom and exquisite beauty.
Near Point Venus we met a gang of natives, in charge of the chief of the district, engaged in repairing the road. All except the chief were in loin-cloths as their only article of dress. They worked leisurely, and smoked and chatted in a way that showed that they were happy even when bearing the burden of the day and the scorching rays of the tropic sun, with nothing in view for their ten-o'clock breakfast but the cool mountain water instead of coffee, breadfruit or plantain (fei) for bread, and some fruit gathered in the woods on their way to work.
The round trip from Papeete to Point Venus can be made in three hours, and gives one a very excellent idea of the general topography of the island and is replete with both pleasure and profit.