P O P 0 L A - dog, feveral cocks and kens, and frequently two or three pigs.
TION. '
A l l this not only affords a fuperfluity, but likewise a great variety
-of animal and vegetable food. T h e bark o f the morus papyrifera,
the bread-fruit tree, and fome others, afford them materials for an
eafy, light, and warm kind o f clothing; which they manufacture
o f various qualities, cut into various Ihapes, and dye with various
colours. Food and raiment, the two great wants o f the human
Ipecies, are therefore eafily fupplied, and the inhabitants are hither-
to fortunate enough to have none o f the artificial wants, which
luxury, avarice, and ambition have introduced among Europeans,,
T h e call o f nature is heard at an early age in this genial climate:
the inhabitants therefore foon begin to.chufe an agreeable partner
for life, happy in the pleafing expedition o f feeing themfelyes re-
prefented, and as it were reproduced in a numerous offspring.
Thefe circumftances, when compared with the many wants of
our civilized ftate, the labours we mull undergo in fupplying thefe
wants, and elpecially thole which are molt indilpenfible in our
climates, and the many difficulties preceding and attendant on our
marriages, will be fufficient to prove, that in the natural, courfe
o f things, population mull be great in thefe happy regions. But
this reafoning does not give a clear and precife idea o f the fubjedt,
I will therefore attempt to enable the reader to make a near eftimatp
o f the real population o f this and all the adjacent illes.
When
When we came the fecond time to O-Taheitee in April, 1774.:
we found the inhabitants bufied in making preparations for a great
,naval expedition againlt More a , a diftridt in E im eo . - W e faw a
■ fleet o f their war-canoes collefted together, with a great number
o f fmall c raft : we faw the natives preparing the war-canoes in feveral
diltridts, and in fome they were already launched; we found
them exerciling their rowers and warriors;- and the armaments-of
two dillridls adlually appeared in review before the great chiefs7
houfe, at O -P a r r e . Th e dillridt o f A tahooroo is one o f the
greatell, and that o f T i t t a h a w one o f the fmalleft. Th e firll
had equipped 159 war-canoes, and about 70 fmall veffels intended
for the chiefs, the lick and wounded, and probably to carry fome
provifions. i T h e fecond dillridt lent 44. war-canoes, and about 20
or 30 fmaller ones. That part o f O-Taheitee, which is called
T -O breonoo., or the great Wellern peninfula, contains"24 dillridls
in all 3 the lefler Eaftern .peninfula, or T e-A rr a bo o , is divided
into 19, L e t us fuppofe, that each dillridt o f the firlt is capable of
fending the medium between the largell and lealt number of war-
canoes, as mentioned before, which would amount to roo: nay,
to be more moderate, let us fuppofe each dillridt can fend no more
than 50 war-canoes, and 25 fmall attending boats; and we lhall
find the war-canoes o f T -O breonoo to amount to 1200, and the
fmall .veffels to 600. We obferved in the large war-canoes 50 per-
F £ - - fens,
p o p u l a t
i o n .