72 Of the Checks to Population in Bk. i. 



" violence, as the only alternative of perishing by 

 " hunger.' 1 * 



If we turn our eyes from the thinly scattered in- 

 habitants of New Zealand to the crowded shores 

 of Otaheite and the Society Islands, a different 

 scene opens to our view. All apprehension of 

 dearth seems at first sight to be banished from a 

 country that is described to be fruitful as the gar- 

 den of the Hesperides.f But this first impression 

 would be immediately corrected by a moments 

 reflection. Happiness and plenty have always 

 been considered as the most powerful causes of 

 increase. In a delightful climate, where few 

 diseases are known, and the women are con- 

 demned to no severe fatigues, why should not 

 these causes operate with a force unparalleled in 

 less favourable regions ? Yet if they did, where 

 could the population find room and food in such 

 circumscribed limits ? If the numbers in Otaheite, 

 not 40 leagues in circuit, surprised Captain Cook, 

 when he calculated them at two hundred and four 

 thousand, J where could they be disposed of in a 

 single century, when they would amount to above 

 three millions, supposing them to double their num- 

 bers every twenty-five years.§ Each island of the 



* Cook's First Voyage, vol. iii. p. 45. 



t Missionary Voyage, Appendix, p. 347. 



X Cook's Second Voyage, vol. i. p. 349. 



§ I feel very little doubt that this rate of increase is much slower 

 than would really take place, supposing every check to be removed. 

 If Otaheite, with its present produce, were peopled only with a 

 hundred persons, the two sexes \n equal numbers, and each man 



