’j” : much lefs trouble than our cabbages and kitchen-herbs,
though their ufes are infinitely more extenfive. The whole
procefs neceffary to plant a bread-tree, is to break off a
found branch, and flick it in the ground. The banana,
whofe rich clutters feem too great a weight for the herbaceous
flem, annually {hoots afrefh from the root. The
royal palm, at once the ornament of the plain, and a ufe-
ful gift of nature to its inhabitants ; the golden apple,
whofe falutary effects we have fo ftrongly experienced,
and a number of other plants, all thrive with fuch luxuriance,
and require fo little trouble, that I may venture
to call them fpontaneous. -The manufacture of drefs is
an agreeable paftime for the women, and the building of
houfes and canoes, with the making of tools and arms, are-
occupations which become amufing by being voluntary,
and intended for the more immediate ufe of the artificers.
Mod of their days are therefore fpent in a round of various
enjoyments, in a country where nature has lavished many
a pleafing landfcape ; where the temperature of the air is
warm, but continually refrefhed by a wholefome breeze
from the fea ; and where the fky is almoft conftantly ferene.
This climate, and its falubrious productions, contribute to
the ftrength and the elegance of their form. They are all
well-proportioned, and fome would have been feleCted by
Phidias or Praxiteles, as models of mafculine beauty. Their
features
features are fweet, and unruffled by violent paflions. Their
large eyes, their arched eyebrows, and high forehead, give
a noble air to their heads, which are adorned by flrong
beards^ and a comely growth of hair *. Tliefe, as well as
their beautiful teeth, are the proofs., of vigour, and of a
found habit of body. The fex, the partners of their felicity,
are lilcewife well-formed ; their irregular charms win the
heart of their countrymen, and their unaffected fmiles, and
a wifh to pleafe, infure them mutual efieem and love. A
kind of happy uniformity runs through the whole life of
the Taheitians. They rife with the fun, and haften to rivers
and-fountains, to perform an ablution equally reviving
and cleanly. They pafs the morning at work, or walk about
till the heat of the day increafes, when they retreat to their
dwellings, or repofe under fome tufted tree. There they
amufe themfelves with fmoothing their hair, and anoint it
with fragrant oils ; or they blow the flute, and fing to it, or
liften to the fongs of the birds. At the hour of noon, or a
little later, thSy go to dinner. After their meals they refume
their domeftic amufements, during which the flame
of mutual affeClion fpreads in every heart, and unites the
riling generation with new and tender ties. The lively
* It has been faid by other navigators, that they eradicate-the hair o f the upper
lip, the breaft and arm-pits; but this is by no means a general cuftom.
T h e chiefs in particular, and the king himfelf, preferve their whiflters.
left,