OF LA PEROUSE. it^ 



body. We faw a great number whofe fkin was 

 covered with white tetters : this malady pro- 

 ceeds perhaps from their not being accuftomed 

 to wipe themfclves, nor to wafli with frefh wa- 

 ter, after having bathed in the fea. 



We remarked no fy mptom of venereal difeafe 

 among thefe iflanders ; neverthelefs, one of our 

 failors caught a gonorrhoea there, but from a 

 woman that had had a connexion with a man 

 belonging to the Efperance, who had been long 

 infed:ed with this diforder. Are thefe people 

 then fo fortunate, that this contagion, after 

 having rapidly run through its different ftages, 

 has naturally become extindl among them ? f'or 

 from the teftimony of Captain Cook, there can 

 be no doubt that it formerly made great ravages 

 in this country. 



The natives of the Friendly Iflands have a 

 fwarthy fkin, becaufe they very frequently ex- 

 pofe themfelves to the heat of the fun ; but the 

 women, who keep pretty conflantly in their 

 habitations, or under the fliade of the trees, have 

 a very fair complexion. The latter have, in 

 general, a very agreeable and very animated 

 countenance. The good health which they en- 

 joy is particularly owing to their extreme clean- 

 linefs, and the excellent quality of the food on 

 which they fubfift. 



N 4 CHAPTER 



