464 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



words, a form of commercial peonage has replaced the old possession of 

 the body of the slave, and only in proportion as the land is poor, or 

 markets far away, is the native rich in communal liberty. 



These facts, well appreciated as they are by the natives are the chief 

 causes of racial distrust, for the native realizes that the European is his 

 exploiter, not his friend. Unable to maintain his ground in open con- 

 test, he has recourse to all manner of subterfuge. Much of his so- 

 called " laziness " and " lack of ambition " results from these conditions, 

 for while he is sufficiently industrious and often hard working in so far 

 as his own personal needs and prdfits are concerned; if he can by any 

 means avoid working for the white man's benefit he will do so, even 

 though he must himself endure privation to accomplish this end.'' 



Events in Tahiti moved slowly, for the age of the steamship had 

 not yet come, and the South Sea Islands were still remote from the 

 world's activitv. 



In 1835 the Catholics began to establish missions among the Pacific 

 Islands, and thus the French government acquired a plausible reason for 

 sending men-of-war into the Pacific, avowedly to afford protection to 

 these missions, but in reality to expand the realms of France. 



In Tahiti the drama opened when two French priests. Fathers Laval 

 and Caret, embarked upon a small schooner from Mangareva and landed 

 on Tahiti on November 21, 1836. 



The antagonism between the protestant missionaries and their cath- 

 olic co-workers was well known to these French priests, and thus they 

 avoided Papeete, the only port of entry, and sought a landing upon the 

 remote coast of Tautira on the eastern side of the Island. They then 

 walked slowly along the shore toward Papeete preaching at frequent 

 intervals, and gaining the ears of Tati and other leaders of the old con- 

 servative party whose aspirations had been crushed by the missionary 

 element in 1815. 



•Henceforth the struggle lay between the protestants and the French, 

 the Queen being but a puppet in the hands of Mr. Pritchard, a mis- 

 sionary who was then serving as British Consul; and the upshot of the 

 affair was that on December 13, 1836, the priests were expelled from 

 Tahiti for having failed to respect the port regulations in landing 

 surreptitiously at Tautira; their offer to pay the statutory fine being 

 refused by the Queen. 



But the martyr spirit was as strong in these French priests as in their 

 protestant adversaries, and with unexpected suddenness they reappeared, 

 this time as passengers on the American brig Colombo which anchored 

 in Papeete Harbor on January 27, 1837. Their application for per- 



" A most interesting and thoughtful analysis of such conditions has been 

 given by Sir Sydney Oliver, former Governor of Jamaica, in his book upon 

 "White Capital and Colored Labor." 



