4 3 2 R . E M A R R S on t he
m an n ers than by perfuading thefe nations to return to m o n o g am y the
primitive method ordained by providence for the propagation of
mankind; and every encouragement ought to be given to fo laudable
a purpofe.
T h e nations of the South'.Sea living all in monogamy, though
defcended from the nations on the Indian continent, who almoft
all are polygamous, prove indifputably, that perhaps neither
wifdom nor virtue prompted them to adopt this meafure, but that
in all probability the fird fettlers inthefe ifles brought an equal
proportion o f men and women with them,, and that accident
made it neceflary to continue the meafure,. and to lay afide polygamy,
the practice o f which they had been accuftomed to in the mother
country. T h e moderate fize o f thefe ides made it likewife necef-
fary to continue this method; becaufe i f in a fmall ide, one man
fhould encroach upon the rights o f feveral men, by taking thofe
Females to himlelf, which originally were dedgned to be the wives
o f feveral, he could not remain unnoticed, and the injury done
could not but be felt very grievoudy, and at length be in fome
meafure repaired by reftoring to every individual, what fliould have
been his allotted fliare.
T h e young females of O-Taheitee and its neighbourhood, are
not over fcrupulous in admitting fome lovers to their embraces
before marriage. In other countries this would be a fufficient
i- ■ . reafon
H U M A N S P E C I E S .
reafon for'excluding them forever from the married date; but thefe manners
nations think o f fuch favours in a 'différent light. I f the birth of
a child fliould happen to be the confequence, the youth is reputed
the father, and the parents "are-entitled to all the privileges of
regular marriages; i f they havé no-i-ffue, the female is not damped
with ignominy for fuch a treipafs, but is always reputed capable
o f joining in matrimony with the bed men o f the nation.
_ _ m ; - Jam proterva
Fronte pctet Lalage maritMm -
DileSta Horat. 1. ii. ode 5.-
Afrer marriage thefe very perfons keep their compaft with a
chadity and fidelity which are highly meritorious.
When w e . were the fecond time at O-Raiedea, the chief of
O-Taha, called Boba, came frequently to vifit us ; one day being on
board, he faw his fiders coming towards, the ihip in a canoe, and
pointing to his younger fider, defired me as .foon as die came on
deck, to fay to lier, Vcheina-pooioa; I did fo, not knowing what would
be the confequence, and her elder fider immediately lifted up the garments
o f the younger, Ihewing that die had the marks of puberty.
When die had done this two or three times, (lie refufed to go through
the fame ceremony again. I then enquired more carefully into the
meaning of this tranladbion, and learnt, that in thefe ifles, it is a
kind of reproach, or want o f dignity not to be pf age, and to be
K k k deditutc