The cattle lately introduced are pastured upon the hills, and those parts of the country not under cultivation, the fences not being sufficient to confine them. The hogs are kept in pens, and fed on taro leaves, sugar canes, and garbage.
The chiefs are the proprietors of the soil, and let the land in small farms to the lower class, who pay them a rent in kind, generally pigs, cloth, or mats, at four terms in the year.
At one time during my stay, there were nearly sixty white people upon Wahoo alone; but the number was constantly varying, and was considerably diminished before my departure. Although the great majority had been left by American vessels, not above one third of them belonged to that nation; the rest were almost all English, and of these six or eight were convicts, who had made their escape from New South Wales.
Many inducements are held out to sailors to remain here. If they conduct themselves with propriety, they rank as chiefs, and are entitled to all the privileges of the order; at all events, they are certain of being maintained by some of the chiefs, who are always anxious to have white people about them.
The king has a considerable number in his service, chiefly carpenters, joiners, masons, blacksmiths, and bricklayers; these he rewards liberally with grants of land. Some of these people are sober and industrious; but this is far from being their general character; on the contrary, many of them are idle and dissolute, getting drunk whenever an opportunity presents itself. They have introduced distillation into the island; and the evil consequences, both to the natives and whites, are incalculable. It is no uncommon sight to see a party of them broach a small cask of spirits, and sit drinking for days till they see it out.
There are, however, a few exceptions to this. William Davis, a Welshman, who resided with Isaac Davis, used to rise every morning at five, and go to his fields, where he commonly remained till the same hour in the evening. This singularity puzzled the natives not a little; but they accounted for it, by supposing that he had been one of their own countrymen, who had gone to Caheite, or England, after his death, and had now come back to his native land.
There were no missionaries upon the island during the time I remained in it, at which I was often much surprised.
Most of the whites have married native women, by whom they have families; but they pay little attention either to the education or to the religious instruction of their children. I do not recollect having seen any who knew more than the letters of the alphabet.