Civil and Savage Life Compared. 



before a man is allowed to choose a wife he 

 must prove that he can do a man's work. In 

 many of the Papuan tribes the bridegroom was 

 compelled to cultivate a certain amount of land 

 for the father of his bride before he could have 

 her. And among the Fijians the unfit were 

 not allowed to marry at all. 



These people were all of quite superior 

 physique prior to their contact with us, but the 

 last twenty or thirty years has made a vast 

 difference in the physical condition of many 

 of them. So far the benefits of civilisation 

 have not compensated the savage for the degrada- 

 tion resulting from this introduction to the 

 vicious habits of civilised peoples. Unfortu- 

 nately, those who first come in contact with 

 savage tribes are seldom the best possible persons 

 to introduce higher ideals of life to them, and 

 there are very few, if any, countries where the 

 natives have really benefited by contact with 

 our civilisation. 



The result of European influence on the natives 

 of the Pacific Islands affords us a striking example 

 of the cause of physical decline. One of the most 

 striking characteristics of the natives in former 

 times was the perfect health which seemed their 

 constant possession. Captain Cook tells us of 

 the natives of Otaheitee, discovered in 1767 by 

 Captain Wallis, and visited afterwards by M. 

 Bouganville. " The islanders, who inhabit huts 

 exposed to all the winds, and hardly covering the 

 earth, which serves them for a bed, with a layer 

 of leaves, are remarkably healthy and vigorous, 

 and live to old age without enduring any of its 



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