 an extensive grove of orange-trees in full bearing; and
myself and another were selected to go with him, and gather a supply for the
party. When we went in among the trees, the sumptuousness of the orchard was
unlike anything I had ever seen; while the fragrance shaken from the gently
waving boughs regaled our senses most delightfully.
    In many places the trees formed a dense shade, spreading overhead a dark,
rustling vault, groined with boughs, and studded here and there with the ripened
spheres, like gilded balls. In several places, the overladen branches were borne
to the earth, hiding the trunk in a tent of foliage. Once fairly in the grove,
we could see nothing else; it was oranges all round.
    To preserve the fruit from bruising, Bob, hooking the twigs with his pole,
let them fall into his basket. But this would not do for us; seizing hold of a
bough, we brought such a shower to the ground that our old friend was fain to
run from under. Heedless of remonstrance, we then reclined in the shade, and
feasted to our hearts' content. Heaping up the baskets afterward, we returned to
our comrades, by whom our arrival was hailed with loud plaudits; and in a
marvellously short time, nothing was left of the oranges we brought but the
rinds.
    While inmates of the Calabooza, we had as much of the fruit as we wanted;
and to this cause, and others that might be mentioned, may be ascribed the
speedy restoration of our sick to comparative health.
    The orange of Tahiti is delicious - small and sweet, with a thin, dry rind.
Though now abounding, it was unknown before Cook's time, to whom the natives are
indebted for so great a blessing. He likewise introduced several other kinds of
fruit; among these were the fig, pine-apple, and lemon, now seldom met with. The
lime still grows, and some of the poorer natives express the juice to sell to
the shipping. It is highly valued as an anti-scorbutic. Nor was the variety of
foreign fruits and vegetables which were introduced the only benefit conferred
by the first visitors to the Society Group. Cattle and sheep were left at
various places. More of them anon.
    Thus, after all that has of late years been done for these islanders, Cook
and Vancouver may, in one sense at least, be considered their greatest
benefactors.
 

                                 Chapter XXXII

                      Proceedings of the French at Tahiti

As I happened to arrive at the island at a very interesting period in its
political affairs, it may be
