the bay of Nukuheva. No description can do justice to its
beauty; but that beauty was lost to me then, and I saw nothing
but the tri-coloured flag of France trailing over the stern of
six vessels, whose black hulls and bristling broadsides
proclaimed their warlike character. There they were, floating in
that lovely bay, the green eminences of the shore looking down so
tranquilly upon them, as if rebuking the sternness of their
aspect. To my eye nothing could be more out of keeping than the
presence of these vessels; but we soon learnt what brought them
there. The whole group of islands had just been taken possession
of by Rear-Admiral Du Petit Thouars, in the name of the
invincible French nation.

This item of information was imparted to us by a most
extraordinary individual, a genuine South-Sea vagabond, who came
alongside of us in a whale-boat as soon as we entered the bay,
and, by the aid of some benevolent persons at the gangway, was
assisted on board, for our visitor was in that interesting stage
of intoxication when a man is amiable and helpless. Although he
was utterly unable to stand erect or to navigate his body across
the deck, he still magnanimously proffered his services to pilot
the ship to a good and secure anchorage. Our captain, however,
rather distrusted his ability in this respect, and refused to
recognize his claim to the character he assumed; but our
gentleman was determined to play his part, for, by dint of much
scrambling, he succeeded in getting into the weather-quarter
boat, where he steadied himself by holding on to a shroud, and
then commenced issuing his commands with amazing volubility and
very peculiar gestures. Of course no one obeyed his orders; but
as it was impossible to quiet him, we swept by the ships of the