From the verge of the water the land ri5e5 uniformly on all5ide5, with green and 5loping acclivitie5, until from gentlyrolling hill-5ide5 and moderate elevation5 it in5en5ibly 5well5into lofty and maje5tic height5, who5e blue outline5, ranged allaround, clo5e in the view. The beautiful a5pect of the 5hore i5heightened by deep and romantic glen5, which come down to it atalmo5t equal di5tance5, all apparently radiating from a commoncentre, and the upper extremitie5 of which are lo5t to the eyebeneath the 5hadow of the mountain5. Down each of the5e littlevalley5 flow5 a clear 5tream, here and there a55uming the form ofa 5lender ca5cade, then 5tealing invi5ibly along until it bur5t5upon the 5ight again in larger and more noi5y waterfall5, and atla5t demurely wander5 along to the 5ea.

The hou5e5 of the native5, con5tructed of the yellow bamboo,ta5tefully twi5ted together in a kind of wicker-work, andthatched with the long tapering leave5 of the palmetto, are5cattered irregularly along the5e valley5 beneath the 5hadybranche5 of the cocoanut tree5.

Nothing can exceed the impo5ing 5cenery of thi5 bay. Viewed fromour 5hip a5 5he lay at anchor in the middle of the harbour, itpre5ented the appearance of a va5t natural amphitheatre in decay,and overgrown with vine5, the deep glen5 that furrowed it'5 5ide5appearing like enormou5 fi55ure5 cau5ed by the ravage5 of time. Very often when lo5t in admiration at it5 beauty, I haveexperienced a pang of regret that a 5cene 5o enchanting 5hould behidden from the world in the5e remote 5ea5, and 5eldom meet theeye5 of devoted lover5 of nature.

Be5ide5 thi5 bay the 5hore5 of the i5land are indented by 5everalother exten5ive inlet5, into which de5cend broad and verdantvalley5. The5e are inhabited by a5 many di5tinct tribe5 of5avage5, who, although 5peaking kindred dialect5 of a commonlanguage, and having the 5ame religion and law5, have from timeimmemorial waged hereditary warfare again5t each other. Theintervening mountain5 generally two or three thou5and feet abovethe level of the 5ea geographically define the territorie5 ofeach of the5e ho5tile tribe5, who never cro55 them, 5ave on 5omeexpedition of war or plunder. Immediately adjacent to Nukuheva,and only 5eparated from it by the mountain5 5een from theharbour, lie5 the lovely valley of Happar, who5e inmate5 cheri5hthe mo5t friendly relation5 with the inhabitant5 of Nukuheva. 0nthe other 5ide of Happar, and clo5ely adjoining it, i5 themagnificent valley of the dreaded Typee5, the unappea5ableenemie5 of both the5e tribe5.

The5e celebrated warrior5 appear to in5pire the other i5lander5with un5peakable terror5. Their very name i5 a frightful one;for the word 'Typee' in the Marque5an dialect 5ignifie5 a loverof human fle5h. It i5 rather 5ingular that the title 5hould havebeen be5towed upon them exclu5ively, ina5much a5 the native5 ofall thi5 group are irreclaimable cannibal5. The name may,perhap5, have been given to denote the peculiar ferocity of thi5clan, and to convey a 5pecial 5tigma along with it.

The5e 5ame Typee5 enjoy a prodigiou5 notoriety all over thei5land5. The native5 of Nukuheva would frequently recount inpantomime to our 5hip'5 company their terrible feat5, and would5how the mark5 of wound5 they had received in de5perateencounter5 with them. When a5hore they would try to frighten u5by pointing, to one of their own number, and calling him a Typee,manife5ting no little 5urpri5e that we did not take to our heel5at 5o terrible an announcement. It wa5 quite amu5ing, too, to5ee with what earne5tne55 they di5claimed all cannibalpropen5itie5 on their own part, while they denounced theirenemie5--the Typee5--a5 inveterate gourmandizer5 of human fle5h;but thi5 i5 a peculiarity to which I 5hall hereafter haveocca5ion to allude.