566 DEIFICATION OF WHITE MEN. 



wrong was, and is, in many cases, very different from ours, 

 but also that, according to the statements of travellers, some 

 of them can hardly be regarded as responsible beings, and 

 have not attained to any notions, however faulty and unde- 

 fined, of moral rectitude.* But where such notions do exist, 

 they differ widely, as we have seen, from our own ; and it 

 would open up too large a question to inquire whether, in all 

 cases, our standard is the correct one. 



In considering the character of women belonging to savage 

 or semi-savage races, we must also remember that savages 

 often regard the white men as beings of a superior order. 

 Thus M. du Chaillu tells us that some of the African savages 

 looked upon him as a superior being; and the South Sea 

 Islanders worshipped Captain Cook as a deity. Even when 

 they had killed him, and cut him into small pieces, the 

 inhabitants of Owhyhee fully expected him to reappear, and 

 frequently asked " what he would do to them on his return/' -f- 

 However absurd and extravagant such a belief may at first 

 sight appear, it must be admitted that it is in many respects 

 very natural. Savages can only raise their minds to the con- 

 ception of a being a few degrees superior to themselves, and 

 Captain Cook was more powerful, wiser, and, we may add, 

 more virtuous than most of their so-called " Deities." Under 

 these circumstances, although it must be admitted that the 

 chastity of the women is not, as a general rule, much regarded 

 among savages, we must not too severely condemn them on 

 this account. It is not surprising that any connection with 

 white men is regarded rather as an honour than as a disgrace : 

 the Europeans hold, in fact, almost the same position in public 

 estimation as did the amorous deities of ancient mythology. 



Again, with savages, as with children, time appears longer 



* See, for instance, Burchell, t Cook's Voyage to the Pacific 

 v<l. i. p. 461. Ocean, by Capt, King, F.R.S., vol. 



iii. p. 69. 



