POPULATION.*
S E C T I O N I.
'On.tile N u m b e r s of I n h a b i t a n t s in the S o u t h - S e a - I s l e s ,
and their P o p u l a t i o n .
Non temere & forluito fa ti creatiJiimus, & profeclo eft giuedam vis, jute generi confullt hunulno.
M. T ullius-Cicero.
I I T E fhall begin -with O-Taheitee, one of the largeft, moil
populous, and bell-cultivated illands of the Pacific Ocean.
The high hills of this happy country are without inhabitants; and,
i f we except fome fertile well-watered vallies, containing a few
cottages, in the midft -of the mountains, the whole, interior country
is Hill unimproved, and fuch as it came out of the hands of
nature. The flat grounds, furrounding the iiland towards the lea,
contain chiefly the habitations of the natives; and nothing can be
feen more beautiful, more cultivated, and more fertile, than thefe
extenfive plains. The whole ground is covered with coco-nut and
bread-fruit trees, which yield the chief fubfillence for its inhabitants
: all is interijperfed with plantations of bananas, young mulberry
trees for the manufacture of their cloth, and other ufeful
plants; fuch as- yams, eddoes, fugar-caries, and many others too
tedious to enumerate. Under the lhade of thefe agreeable groves,
we every where beheld numerous houfes; which we Ihould have
coneonfidered
as mere iheds, were they not fufiicient to fcreen the popula
... . ■ ■ ■ '■ . . . . T I ON .
owners from rain, moifture, and the inclemencies of the air, which
is always.mild- and- temperate in thefe happy regions. All the
houfes are filled with people,, and the lar-gell habitations contain
feveral families. -Wherever we walked, we found the,roads lined
with natives, and not one of the houfes was-empty, though we had
left the ihores oppofite the ihip, crowded with people. All thefe
circumilances: indicate, that there is an extraordinary population'in
this queen- of tropical ifles-; and we have every neceflary- argument
to corroborate the affertion*.
The mild and temperate. climate, under the powerful, benevolent,
and congenial influence of the fun, mitigated by alternate fea
and land breezes, quickens the growth of the vegetable and. animal
creation; and therefore, in fome meafure alfo, benefits and.imprbves
the human’ frame, by this happy combination. Such is. the great
abundance o f the fineft fruit, growing; as it were, without cultivation,
that none are diilreffed for food. The fea is another great
refource for the inhabitants of this and all the Society files. They
catch great numbers of fine and delicious fiih ; they Collect number-
lefs fhells, cray-fiih, lea-eggs, and feveral'kinds of Blubbers, along
the-reefs, both by day and night;- and often go to the low iflands a
few leagues off, in queft of cavallas, turtles, and w-ater-fowl.
There is not a houfe or cottage, about which you do not obferve-a
dog,