162 PHYSICAL INVESTIGATION. [PART I. 



here, lias been improved ; and this presents a fresh difficulty in 

 the explanation of a progressive decay. 



In order to understand this, we must remember that, at the 

 time of the arrival of the Europeans in the South Sea (as 

 Moerenhout, and especially Meinicke, have proved), there pre- 

 vailed already an extreme dissolution of social relations, 

 morals, and religion, among the chief nations of Polynesia. 

 This apparent break up of society, the result of long-continued 

 excesses, was much promoted by the arrivals of the Whites. 

 The enervated race of the Tahitians, and the weakened inhabi- 

 tants of the Sandwich islands, had then much to suffer from 

 the new diseases imported by the Europeans. Next to influ- 

 enza, great destruction was caused by syphilis constantly 

 imported by 15,000 to 20,000 seamen, chiefly whalers, who 

 landed in Honolulu and Lahaina. 1 Many of these diseases 

 became fatal from the small protection afforded by the scanty 

 dress and defective habitations of the natives. In New Zealand, 

 Dieffenbach considers that the decay is chiefly owing to a 

 change of dress and habits of life, so that scrofula and its allied 

 affections have spread among children. 3 This also applies to 

 the Society islands of Raiatea. The population of Burutu, say 

 Tyermann and Bennet, 3 had, a few years ago, been reduced by 

 fever from 6,000 to 314. The sterility of the women and the 

 mortality among the children, are no doubt closely connected 

 with the decrease of the population. Both phenomena are very 

 common in the Sandwich islands. 4 According to the mission- 

 aries only half of the marriages are prolific. 5 The great 

 mortality of the children in the Society Islands, where infanti- 

 cide has been replaced by artificial abortion, is" said to be 

 greatly owing to an improper alimentation. The number of 

 children, which in Tahiti is not large, rarely in the Marquesas 

 exceeds two to one woman. 6 In Samoa, the number of children 



1 Virgin, i, p. 269. 



2 Fox, loc. cit., p. 55. 



3 "Journal of voy. and trav.," i, p. 497, 1831. 



4 Wilkes, iv, pp. 77, 94. 



Hines, "Oregon, its history," p. 210, Buffalo, 1851. 

 6 Krusenstern, " R. um d. Welt," i, 



, p. 198, 1810; Melville, "VierMonate 

 auf. d. Marq.," ii, p. 125, 1847. Langsdorff (i, p. 152) asserts that twins are 

 not rare. 



