Ch. v. the Islands of the South Sea. 73 



group would be in a similar situation. The re- 

 moval from one to another would be a change of 

 place, but not a change of the species of distress. 

 Effectual emigration, or effectual importation, 

 would be utterly excluded, from the situation of 

 the islands and the state of navigation among their 

 inhabitants. 



The difficulty here is reduced to so narrow a 

 compass, is so clear, precise and forcible that we 

 cannot escape from it. It cannot be answered in 

 the usual vague and inconsiderate manner, by 

 talking of emigration, and further cultivation. In 

 the present instance, we cannot but acknowledge, 

 that the one is impossible, and the other glaringly 

 inadequate. The fullest conviction must stare us 

 in the face, that the people on this group of islands 

 could not continue to double their numbers every 

 twenty-five years ; and before we proceed to in- 

 quire into the state of society on them, we must be 

 perfectly certain that, unless a perpetual miracle 

 render the women barren, we shall be able to 

 trace some very powerful checks to population in 

 the habits of the people. 



The successive accounts that we have received 

 Qf Otaheite and the neigbouring islands, leave us 

 no room to doubt the existence of the Eareeoie so- 



constant to one woman ; I cannot but think that, for five or six 

 successive periods, the increase would be more rapid than in any 

 instance hitherto known, and that they would probably double 

 their numbers in less than fifteen years. 



