220 



R E M ARKS 



O N 



THE 



TION. 



POPULA- pafte of the bread-fruit by fermentation, which keeps for feveral 



months, and is bo.th healthy and palatable to thofe who are once 

 ufed to its acidulated tafle. Now let us compare this to the greatefl 

 fertility in 



k 



countries. 



In F 



leag 



containing about 4867 French acres (arpents,,) no more than 1390'^ 

 perfons can live by agriculture, and 2604 by vintage : in. the iirft 

 cafe, one perfon requires 31 arpents to live upon,, and in the latter: 

 nearly two arpents Yd'oSk. be allotted for the fubliflence of one indi- 

 vidual. In O-Taheitee, and the Society-Illes> about ten or twelve 

 perfons live eight months on one Englilh acre, which contains 



\ 



\ 



43,560 fquare feet ; whereas the arpent, containing 51,550 fquare 

 feet Englifh meafure, feeds but one perfon lix months in France, 



h 



This calculation proves, that taking fuch parts, as are befk culti- 



- 



vated in both countries,, the population of O-Taheitee is to that of 

 France, nearly as 17. to i . Moreover, let us fuppofe, that on the 

 whole iile of 0-Taheitee, there are no more than 40 fquare Englifh 

 miles of land planted with bread-fruit trees,, which fuppofition 

 certainly does not err in excefs. Each mile confifts of 640 acres, 



and 40 miles muft accordingly contain 25,600. acres. Ten or 

 twelve men live eight months on one acre ; confequently thirty or 

 thirty-fix men can fubfifl the fame time on three acres, and twenty, 

 or twenty-four men find food during a whole year on three acres ; 



6 



con 



* Difcours fur l^s Vignes Dijon. 1756, 121110 



