524 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGEAPHY AND TPtAYEL 



by Krusenstern in 1804 as 18,000, and about eighty 

 years later was said to be under 500. Captain Jouan of 

 the French navy considered that the mortality was in 

 part due to the revolting custom which until lately 

 obtained of shutting up widows for days or even weeks 

 with the putrefying corpse of their husbands ; but the 

 unbridled immorality of the people and the introduction 

 of intoxicants have no doubt also greatly contributed to 

 the result. 



In their habits and religious practices the natives of 

 the Marquesas resemble the Tahitians in many respects. 

 They formerly worshipped a number of gods, for whom a 

 moral was set up in every district, on which swine were 

 sacrificed, for, although cannibals, they never offered 

 up human victims. They were extremely hospitable, 

 which, however, did not prevent them from indulging 

 in sanguinary feuds among themselves. The efforts of 

 the missionaries to evangelise them were long fruitless ; 

 recently, however, the majority of the natives are said to 

 have adopted the Koman Catholic form of Christianity. 

 Nevertheless, according to Von Popp, they still remain 

 perfect savages, nor have they yet altogether renounced 

 cannibalism. 



The principal island in the Marquesas group is Nuka- 

 liiva, formerly a French penal settlement. It is about 

 14 miles long by 10 broad, and is famous for the 

 magnificent cascades which pour over its sea-cliffs. Here 

 is the small but animated port of Taiohai, where resides 

 the French Commissioner of the Marquesas, under whose 

 protection several traders have here founded commercial 

 houses. The islands are well adapted for the growth of 

 cotton, but the people are worthless as agriculturists, and 

 labour is exceedingly difficult to obtain. Moreover, long 

 droughts are not uncommon, lasting as much as ten or 



