196 CHASTITY OF THE WOMEN. 
and Mr. Wilson concurred in assuring me that 
he was not a Tahaitian, but an inhabitant of 
another island, who had come hither with one 
of the tributary kings, and declared that a 
Tahaitian would not have stolen the sheet. The 
only article which we lost besides this, was an 
iron hoop from a barrel, and as the thief was 
not discovered, it remained undecided whether 
their assertion was well-grounded or not. At 
all events, it appears certain that thefts do 
not take place oftener than among civilized 
nations. 
With the chastity of the Tahaitian women, 
the case is similar; and it does not. appear to me 
that the breaches of this virtue are more fre- 
quent on the whole than in Europe. It was 
with the utmost caution and secrecy, and in the 
most fearful anxiety lest their errors should be 
betrayed to the Missionaries, that the females 
complied with the desires of our sailors. An 
accidental occurrence proved that their terrors 
were not groundless. A married man who pos- 
sessed a house of his own, was induced to barter, 
according to the custom of his ancestors, the 
favours of his wife for some pieces of iron: he 
