and it is similarly furnished. Near it is the abode of the
missionary Bengham. Kahumanna, as well as Nomahanna, has the date of
Tameamea's death marked upon her arm; otherwise they are not tattooed,
which indeed few are, and those only the most aged people.

Kahumanna honoured me several times with visits on board, and
condescended to write me a letter, which, Marini assured me, contained
nothing but expressions so inflated and pompous that he could not
understand, and therefore could not translate them.

The appointed time for our return to New Archangel now approached. Our
vessel had been fully prepared for encountering the violent and
continued storms of the North, and I waited the return of our
mineralogist, M. Hoffman, who had gone to O Wahi, for the purpose of
climbing the mountain Mou-na-roa, in which however he did not succeed.
By command of Queen Nomahanna, assistance had indeed been afforded him;
but the two Kanackas, who accompanied him as guides, refused to proceed
farther than seven thousand feet above the level of the sea, or about
half-way up the mountain; a height to which the most courageous O Wahian
will scarcely venture, from fear partly of the spirits which haunt the
summit of the mountain, partly of the cold, which is almost too severe
for an inhabitant of the tropics to endure. At this point the Kanackas
threw themselves flat upon the earth, nor would they stir another step,
although certain of punishment for their refusal. In vain M. Hoffman
tried to shake their resolution, first by offering them large presents,
and then by threatening them with a loaded pistol; they were immoveable,
and he was forced to return. His expedition, however, was not altogether
fruitless: besides his mineralogical observations, he discovered an
extraordinary cave, running at an acute angle several hundred feet deep
into the mountain, where he found a sheet of water, which stretched as
far as the light of the torches permitted the light to reach through the
fearful darkness. It would have been interesting to have traversed this
subterranean sea in a boat. It is most remarkable, that the water of
this lake is salt, and that the alternate ebb and flow of the tide is as
perceptible here as on the coast. M. Hoffman will probably publish other
particulars respecting this natural curiosity.

On the 31st of January 1825, we left the harbour of Hanaruro, having the
pleasure to be accompanied by our friend Karemaku, who, by the