[76] With reference to this, the following remarks are especially noteworthy, made by M. Guizot at a time when France still possessed a tribune and a parliament: "What particularly strikes me is that our missionaries do not make new conquests for a Church already powerful; that they do not extend the sphere of supremacy of the ecclesiastical government. The Roman Catholic missionary arrives alone, ignorant of the actual state of affairs, having none of the affections common to humanity—in a word, better fitted to acquire an ascendant than to enlist sympathy. The Protestant ministers are, on the contrary, family missions, so to speak; so that a pagan population will more readily be led to regard as brothers men who are husbands and fathers like themselves. Thus these missions instruct by presenting specimens of Christian society side by side with precepts of faith; the example of all the relations and sentiments of domestic life, regulated according to the morality of the Gospel they are sent to teach; a mode of instruction most assuredly not the least efficacious, if not absolutely perfect." (Discours de M. Guizot dans l'Assemblée Générale, du 11 Avril, 1826.)
[77] In the "Lois Revisées dans l'Assemblée Législative au mois de Mars de l'année 1848, pour la conduite de tous, sous le gouvernement du Protectorat dans les terres de la Société," is the following stringent passage, "The dance, known as Upa-Upa, is interdicted in the islands under the Protectorate. On fête days and public festivals dancing is permitted, but no indecent gestures will be tolerated." The Upa-Upa dates from the period when the secret society of the Arréois, whose chief tenets were drinking feasts, polygamy, and infanticide, existed over the greater part of the islands of the Pacific. Moerenhout, in his "Voyages aux íles du grand Océan" (Paris, 1837, vol. i. p. 484), gives a very complete account of this singular society, which has since entirely disappeared before the zeal of Protestant missionaries.
[78] Experiments have also been made quite recently with coffee, which the Government likewise fosters. The largest plantation is the property of a Frenchman named Bonnefin, who, in 1859, grew as much as 8000 lbs. The high price of labour, however, renders its production so dear that Tahitian coffee costs 100 fr. (£4) the centum (100 lbs), or about ten pence the pound, on the spot, whereas the best Costa Rica coffee costs only from £2 to £2 8s. the centum, or five pence to six pence the pound. The Protectorate officials hope to supply this very perceptible lack of labour by introducing into Tahiti, as field workers, the prisoners of war they take in New Caledonia.
[79] Mr. Wilson, a missionary, estimated the population of Tahiti in 1797 at 16,000 souls. In 1848, when the French administration took its first census, the native population amounted to 8082 (viz. 4466 males, 3616 females), the number of Europeans being 475 (428 males and 47 females). In 1858 it had fallen to 5988, or 2580 fewer than it had been 30 years before (1829), when, according to a census taken by the English missionaries, the population of Tahiti was 8568 of both sexes and all ages.
[80] Among the splendid specimens of the forest flora of Tahiti we remarked, in addition to the cocoa-nut palm, the bread-fruit tree and Pandanus, of which we shall presently speak more at length, on account of their economic, industrial, and therapeutic qualities. The Calophyllum Inophyllum (Ati), Inocarpus edulis (Masse), Aleurites triloba (Tu-tui), Rhus Taïtense (Apape), Ficus tinctoria (Máti), Ficus prolixa(Ora), Gleichenia Hermanni (Eanúhe), Hibiscus tiliaceus (Puráu or Fáo), Lagenaria vulgaris (Hue), Pisonia inermis (Puna tehea), Spondias dulcis (Bri), Arundo Bambus (Ofé), Tanghinia Maughas (Ruva), Morinda citrifolia (Nono), Guettenda speciosa (Tafano), Boxa Orellana, &c. &c.
[81] According to Kulczycki's measurements the lake lies 430 metres (1401 feet) above the sea, and is 400 metres (1304 feet) in circumference, while the precipitous peaks around are 1800 metres (5865 feet) above sea-level.
[82] According to the laws of Tahiti, whenever the entire male descendants of a chief have become extinct, his eldest female offspring becomes chief of the district, sits as such in the legislative assembly, and has a voice in the administration of justice. At present there are five chieftainesses, who are members of the Tahitian parliament. Their husbands have no political influence whatever, except as the husbands of these ladies!
[83] Carabus (Anglicé Calaboose) is a corruption of the Spanish word Calabozo, a prison. The Carabus of Papeete is a sort of pound in which drunken people or mischievous vagabonds are confined, and whence they are released on payment of 5 or 10 francs. These mulcts or convictions form a not unimportant source of revenue, and are of twofold demoralizing operation; for while it is the interest of the police on the one hand to make as many arrests as possible, so as to insure a larger sum for division, the wretched, sensual Tahitian girls find in the prosecution of the filthy trade that has brought them within the clutch of the police the best means of procuring their release!
[84] Queen Pomáre finds herself entirely dependent upon the French Protectorate. On the slightest symptom of asserting her position she is met by a stoppage of her allowance, and as, in consequence of the rather opulent mode of life adopted by the generous-hearted lady, the incomings and outgoings are apt not to square, her pecuniary straits are not infrequently made use of for political purposes.
[85] Obviously a corruption of the French "mouton," the popular name for a spy.