contriving to make them understand the purely social object of our visit,
they gave us a true Tahitian welcome; pointing into their dwellings, and saying
they were ours as long as we chose to remain.
    We were struck by the appearance of these people, both men and women; so
much more healthful than the inhabitants of the bays. As for the young girls,
they were more retiring and modest, more tidy in their dress, and far fresher
and more beautiful than the damsels of the coast. A thousand pities, thought I,
that they should bury their charms in this nook of a valley.
    That night we abode in the house of Rartoo, a hospitable old chief. It was
right on the shore of the lake; and at supper, we looked out through a rustling
screen of foliage upon the surface of the starlit water.
    The next day we rambled about, and found a happy little community,
comparatively free from many deplorable evils to which the rest of their
countrymen are subject. Their time, too, was more occupied. To my surprise, the
manufacture of tappa was going on in several buildings. European calicoes were
seldom seen, and not many articles of foreign origin of any description.
    The people of Tamai were nominally Christians; but being so remote from
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, their religion sat lightly upon them. We had been
told, even, that many heathenish games and dances still secretly lingered in
their valley.
    Now the prospect of seeing an old-fashioned hevar, or Tahitian reel, was one
of the inducements which brought us here; and so, finding Rartoo rather liberal
in his religious ideas, we disclosed our desire. At first he demurred; and
shrugging his shoulders like a Frenchman, declared it could not be brought about
- was a dangerous matter to attempt, and might bring all concerned into trouble.
But we overcame all this, convinced him that the thing could be done, and a
hevar, a genuine pagan fandango, was arranged for that very night.
 

                                 Chapter LXIII

                             A Dance in the Valley

There were some ill-natured people - tell-tales - it seemed, in Tamai; and hence
there was a deal of mystery about getting up the dance.
    An hour or two before midnight, Rartoo entered the house, and, throwing
robes of tappa over us, bade us follow at a distance behind him; and, until out
of the village, hood our faces. Keenly alive to the adventure, we obeyed. At
last, after taking a wide circuit, we came out upon the farthest shore of the
lake. It was a wide