78 A V O Y A G 'Ë' T O
No*»»?'« ^ i s ,'a pieeó of fclbthr w’afs produce'«^ ööfe end of’which I was
■ — — Z defired'to höld,‘and. five mén, one - with a fuökilnig pig,
and the others having* each a bafket of bread-fruit, pre-
(.pared to follow me. IiU fh$§ order we advanced- to the
Arreof) and laid' the whole down- before* him. I then.
ffpoké1 fëvèral fenterices dictated' to- me] by Tinàh, the
meaning 'óf which I did not uhdérllànd ; and, my prontm-
ciation not being -Very exadl, caufed & great? deaf of mirth,
j <-This Ipeech being finifhed, -I _was fhewn another*Apreoyt
who had corné from Ulietea, and to him likewife I was re - '
quired to deliver an oration. Tinah; imderftandirig from
" I me, -that I ’had' 'children in my own country, h'e defired
'me to make one mote offering on their, accoutit.- There
ftill remained three bafkets o f bread-fruit, a finâll pig, and
-another piece of cloth : with thefe, affifted as before, I
favour of to y children to ; thé man
j Ivhonà f had firft- addróflèé. He madeîno reply to all.my
‘ fihe~fpieeches,- but- fat‘ with great 'grdvîty^andit received
f^ ê fÿ thing-â^a matter ó f right, ahd-ftóre^^olïaftfe^yv.
* : All that I could make ouf of this Arrange ceremony was,
^ th a tth 'ë ^ ^ a g ^ a fe 'highly refpe<Sled; a'nd that ithë' fociety
-is chiefly cotopofed of men diftinguitoed by their, valour or
-fomè other merit, àiid that great tru ft and eonfidéndénis
• répofëd ixi them; but I could not comprehend what-this
had to do with my children, orS why it' Ih’ould. be imagined
that an offering made oh theirj account'to a'.Satiety,, of
men, who deftroy all their children,. ihould bp ptopitious.
I learnt from Tinah, in talking' about his hhildrèù> >that
'his firft-born child was killed as foon as it came into the
world, he being then anJArféàÿ? but before his : fecönd
"child - was rborn, he^quitted fhê iotiety. The. Afp&tiys. are
Vhllowed great1 latitude in their àmoursyextent m'timifs u f
fl danger.
T H E ' . S O U T H S;E..AS,s 8cc.
danger. Then, as, they are almoft all fighting men (ta ta
tfld) they are ,reftr idled, tha£ they may not weaken or enervate
thendfelves .< ■ r
- iThefe ceremonies) being, ended, I returned to the fhip. —
n Such qfythj; natiwes, asjL convened rwith about the in-
ftitution of; ib" extraordinary <a fpeietypas the Arreoy, af+
ferted that it-was neceffary,.to prevent an over population«
W&yrqvo no 4&i mydidde, j ffiptwow«-, te^tata*
We have j too mariyrtchiiklreri^fa’n4! too many men, was
their conftant ,,exct£fe A Yet lt doesr nop appear, that they
are apprehenl^ye’ of too great an increafe| pf the lower
cfafs of people, none,- of them being ever admitted into .the
Arfmy;, fotiety, The mpffrempkable -inftance, related- to
me, o f the barbarity,fog this inftitution, "was, o f Teppahoo,
the-Eareetof'the diftridl ofjTettaha, andyhis wife, Tettee-
howdoeah»; whO;is--fiftei; to^p^q^^d.cqmfidered..as^ja per-
fon o f the firft confequence. I .was told'that'they* have
had eight-children, every one... of .which- was, de'ffroyeckas
foon as born. That any humap beingswere ever, fo, devoid
of natural affedMqn,' as not to with to prefprye, alive one. of
fo many children, is not credible. Itf-is more ,reafonable
to conclude, that the death of thefe infants was hot an adl
of choice-,in the parents; .but that -they were facrificed in
compliance with fome barbarous jfiuperftition, with-which,
we' are unacquainted, t What ftrengtbens this,.cdnjedfure
is,;that they have, adopted: a nephew,a|itheir heif, of whom,
thjsy-are exceffively fond. -
‘ _ ;£|n "^countries fo limited as theifl.apds, in t^e’ i?putb Spa§j the
natives of wjiieh^ before they .were difcoyere^ byfBuropean
navigators,,probably had, not anrideg^of the'exiftenqe;-,of
other lands, it is, not unnatural that an increafing',population
Ihould occaiion apprehenfions of univerfal diftrefs.
Orders
79
if88.
November.