Civil and Savage Life Compared. 



the slightest symptom in their drowsy-headed 

 offspring, who crowd the courts and dwellings of 

 the chiefs. In the room of engaging in those 

 sports and gymnastic exercises, which were once 

 the favourite amusements of his forefathers 

 . . . . a native betakes himself to his mat, 

 and solaces his cares by reciting a psalm or por- 

 tion of Sacred Scripture which the industrious 

 missionary has clothed in the dialect of his will- 

 ing convert 



"In order to train and bring under subjection 

 the humors of the younger people, an absolute 

 authority over them seems necessary. For where 

 diet, lodging, and climate tend to foster the con- 

 cupiscible part of our nature, and the restraints 

 of legal enactments, custom and example are 

 scarcely felt, the cordial draught, mingled by 

 Circe for the unwary, becomes far more tasteful, 

 and its draught attended with less remorse than 

 in societies where legislation and the judgment 

 of civil courts provide pains and penalties for 

 transgressors 



"The counterpart of the sirens, fabled in 

 ancient story, who have been deemed by some to 

 exist only in the imagination of poets, may be 

 found at Oahu. ... He who was so void of 

 understanding as to listen to the pleasing sorcery 

 of their enticements never after felt any longings 

 after the blandishments of home, nor the fond 

 caresses of his wife and children. And it is no 

 uncommon thing to witness a youth of respect- 

 able parentage and hopeful parts, allured, on his 

 first visit to Oahu, into the vortex of sensual de- 

 lights, and after reeling a few years in dizzy dis- 



F x 49 



