Indifferent State of Tahiti. 249 



sought for in a very different direction. It lies chiefly in a 

 very defective system of administration, which is constantly 

 being transferred from one hand to the other, having at its 

 head to-day a ship-captain, and to-morrow possibly an officer 

 of gensdarmes or an engineer. A letter* addressed to the 

 Emperor Louis Na2:)oleon by an English merchant long resi- 

 dent at Tahiti, unsparingly unveils the present disorders of 

 Tahiti with respect to rights of property, administration of 

 justice, legislation, and social state, and draws a shocking 

 picture of the actual state of the island, once in such high 

 estimation for the felicity of its inhabitants. 



On the other hand, the very benefits the mother country is 

 supposed to derive from its Protectorate are at least problem- 

 atical. While tlie establishment of French stations in 

 Oceania has required about £240,000, the annual cost of 

 keeping them on foot has never cost less than £100,000, and 

 of this the Protectorate of Tahiti figures for from £24,000 to 

 £28, 000. f This by no means trifling sum is not however 

 employed in promoting commerce or advancing trading in- 

 terests ; for not more than two or three ships in the year 

 come direct to Tahiti from France, while the majority of the 



* Letter concerning the actual state of the island of Tahiti, addressed to H. M. 

 the Emperor Napoleon III., by Alexander Salmon. London, Effingham Wil- 

 son, 1858. 



t The French garrison in Tahiti and Eimeo (Morea), including the administra- 

 tive officials, numbers about 400 men. The Governor receives, besides extras, 

 £1200 pay; the Commandant particuUer draws other £800, in addition to which 

 both these officers draw allowances as officers in the Imperial navy (135. Ad. to 

 £1 per diem.) 



