.4 HISTORY OF TAIIITI 403 



A HISTOKY OF TAHITI. II 



By Dr. ALFRED GOLDSBOROUGH MAYER 



CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON 



T3U'J'' now an era of greed and hate had come, and as traders scattered 

 -L-' firearms among the chiefs, war degenerated into murder, and in an 

 orgie of viciousness inspired by drink, degraded by vile whites, and 

 depleted by introduced disease, the natives dwindled rapidly. The vast 

 numbers seen by Cook and Wallis were no more. In 1798 William 

 Wilson estimated the poi^ulation at only 16,000, but in 1802 according 

 to Jefferson and Scott, it was not greater than 7,000 and, Ellis says 

 the death rate exceeded the Inrths until 1820 when other influences 

 developed which tended to stem the tide of extinction. But Admiral 

 Wilkes states that up to 1839 the births and deaths were almost exactly 

 equal in numbers, and even to-day there are not more than 7,000 natives 

 on the Island of Tahiti. 



This fixity of population after an initial period of decline has been 

 observed elsewhere in the South Seas. In Tahiti it was due mainly to 

 the introduction of Christianity, which prohibited infanticide and human 

 sacrifices, and checked native warfare. A.i the same time, however, the 

 adoption of Christianity contributed to the increase of certain fatal 

 diseases, notably tuberculosis, through the enforced wearing of dirty 

 European clothing, and the too hastily efEected efforts of European 

 teachers to develop " the family ties " thus causing the natives to huddle 

 together in unsanitary, ill-ventilated " shanties " of European pattern. 

 The listlessness and loss of interest in life resulting from the prohibi- 

 tion or disuse of old games, arts and crafts, also led to the development 

 of clandestine immoralities and drunkenness, and in many groups the 

 population has decreased steadily and is still declining. Thus in the 

 Marquesas the decline has been from about 20,000 in 18-12 to about 

 3,400 in 1911; in Hawaii from 130,300 in 1832 to 29,800 in 1900; in 

 Tonga from 30,000 in 1880 to 17,500 in 1900; in Samoa from 37,000 

 in 1849 to 31,300 in 1882; in Fiji from about 140,000 in 1871 to 87,000 

 in 1911 ; and in New Zealand from 44,000 in 1881 to 40,000 in 1891. 



As the Tahitian proverb said : " The hibiscus shall grow and the coral 

 shall spread out its branches, but man shall cease." 



The truth appears to be that after generations of repeated infection, 

 the native blood has developed a partial immunity, although in com- 

 parison with the Caucasian, the South Sea Islander still remains de- 

 ficient in ability to resist disease. 



All through the hideous period initiated b}^ the coming of the white 

 adventurer, the decimation due to disease was even greater than that 

 caused by war ; for savage warfare consists mainly in ambushing solitary 



