4 io R E M A ' R K S o ft t ‘ h f
the cafe in all nations from all times. As long as. the chiefs-: of
thefe iflanders were few» the reft of the nation, preferred a kind of
refpeft for thefe leaders, who then, it feems, were the heroes and
beft warriors of the nation.. But opulence, the fertility o f foil
and climate, and idlenefs at laft increafed the race- of chiefs to
fuch a degree, that the wife men o f the nation,, the great chiefs
o f the provinces and the whole nation itfolf, could not: but be
alarmed at their too great number, and the difturbances which
were doubtlels too- often made by an idle,, athletic» and numerous
fet of men. T h e refpedt which the reft o f the nation: ftill had
for their chiefs, and the great bodily ftsength- of thefe drones,
whofe force was unimpaired by labour» and daily inflamed, by
a preternatural indulgence in the choice!! fruit, and the fat o f the
land, made it more and more difficult to quell the riots o f thefe
turbulent men. T h e married women have in all thefe ifles a
great refpedt fhewn to them,., and their influence is'great in all
public and private af fairsand as, foon as the heir o f a family is
born, the father in a certain manner lofes his importance. Thefe
two eircumftances made young men of rank and property averfe to
marriage; and as they felt the ftrong calls' o f nature under the
influence of a powerful fun, they endeavoured to gratify .their
fenfuality in fuch a manner as was eafy and moil obvious j and
as the other fex was excited by the fame caufes to indulge themfelves
H U M A N S P E C I E S . 411
felves-in fenfual pleafure, the , cdnfequ'enQewas natural, -that every manners
kind o f debauchery was introduced. Thefe fcenes o f ■ lewdnefs
neverthelefs, could not be at firft very common y but the children
who were bom in cOnfeqUUnee of ■ this -practice, became1 the object
of ferious public confideration : they had not been born in regular
marriage, nor was it always poflible to point out the true father 5
they were therefore deprived o f the right of inheritance, on account
o f the uncertainty-of their offspring; but /continued to be. ftiled
Arees, . and were allowed to belong to the family o f chiefs, already
grown too numerous, turbulent, and -powerful. As thefe chiefs,
according to a former obfervation, were the heft warriors of the
nations, the great chiefs and fage men thought it prudent to inftitute
an order of men, who fliould have, great prerogatives, and, great
honours- paid to them, and w h o . were to he the chief warriors;
and that they might not be too much attached to their wives and
children, they were forbid marriage ; and in the beginning of the
inftitution, they, were directed to abftain from all kinds o f venery,
as a pradtice that checked the boldnefs o f fpirit, and deprived men
o f that bodily ftrength fo. much, required in their warriors. This
fociety is ' called Arreeoy, and is ftill fubiifting ; though fome-
what altered from its primitive inftitution. There is no prerogative
which a man likes more to boaft o f at the Society-iflands, than
G g g 2 '