UPOLU. - 83 



families, which remain there, everybody else is Christian ; 

 the Eoraaii Catholics are reckoned at 3,000 ; the rest are 

 Protestants. The native population of the whole group is 

 estimated at 40,000 souls, and that of the whites at 200, 

 including; the missionaries and their families. 



The average temperature is 82° Pahr., and the climate is 

 regarded as healthy, though phthisis and dj^sentery are not 

 rare, and elephantiasis, influenza, fever, and ague sometimes 

 take an epidemic form. Smallpox had never appeared in 

 Upolu up to the time of our visit, but this had not pre- 

 vented the natives from having themselves vaccinated as a 

 measure of precaution. The morality of the Samoan group 

 is said to exceed that of the other South Sea islands ; but 

 in spite of this flattering repute, several of the ofhcers of the 

 ' Cura9oa ' are inclined to think that the colony of Apia is by 

 no means a model of all the virtues, and that the natives 

 are, thanks to some of the whites, kept in a state of corrup- 

 tion which rivals that of many a seaport. It is not only the 

 EngHsh consul who is sceptical on the subject of the chastity 

 of the native girls, but the greater part of the whites also, 

 whence we may conclude that this article is still more rare 

 in the neighbouring groups. The Sanioans carry the 

 ' tokens-of-virginity ' system to an indecent extreme. A 

 sheet is laid down in the most public place in the village ; 

 the inhabitants assemble round it, and then the bride and 

 bridegroom consummate their marriage for the first time in 

 broad daylight and in tlie public gaze, after which the 



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