m 



porter's journal.* 



which was hkelj to produce tears at the moment of sepa* 

 ration. With those of a superior class, the case was dif- 

 ferent ; the connexions formed were respectable, and 

 although their fair friends delighted in playing, on every 

 occasion, little tricks of infidelity, which they considered 

 as perfectly harmless, still they showed a fondness for the 

 person with whom they were connected, and the parting, 

 in several instances, 1 am sure, occasioned tears of real 

 sorrow. 



I must, however, do them the justice to say, that in prac- 

 tising the little infidelities above mentioned, they did not 

 appear sensible of doing an injury to their lover; they 

 were done as acts of retaliation on some of their female 

 acquaintances ; they were always flattered by a preference 

 given them, and this preference, enforced by the powerful 

 charm of a whale's tooth, could at all times purchase the 

 favours of the best of them. When they had gained their 

 prize, they could not refrain from boasting of it to their 

 confidants, and in time it came to the ears of the lady who 

 supposed she had the stronger claim to the tooth ; this 

 produced an act of retaliation on her part, not to injure 

 her lover, but to mortify the lady who had infringed on her 

 prerogatives. It is true, they are not insensible to jea- 

 lousy, but this feeling is confined altogether to the females, 

 who watch as carefully the conduct of their lovers, as the 

 most jealous Don the wanderings of his spouse. She 

 appears much offended if he show any attention to another 

 female, and claims him exclusively as her own : whether 

 this proceeds from motives of interest, which leads thera 

 to believe that all the little tie ties which he has to bestow 

 should in time fall to them, or from custom, which gives 

 to the females of this island a privilege which is supposed 

 to be confined only to the men in other countries, I cannot 

 say, but perhaps from both. The young girls of this island 

 are the wives of all who can purchase their favours, and a 

 handsome daught^is considered by her parents as a bless- 

 ing which secu/^s to them, for a time, wealth and abun- 

 dance. After they have advanced in years, and have had 

 children, they form more permanent connexions, and 

 appear then as firmly attached to their husbands, as 

 the women of any other country : indeed, it has often 

 afforded me the most lively pleasure to witness the strong 



