POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
19 
considered the fairest European countenance seen among 
them, handsomer than their own 5 and sometimes, when 
a fine, tall, well-formed, and personable man has landed 
from a ship, they have remarked as he passed along, 
fine man that, if he were but a native.'’^ They 
formerly supposed the white colour of the European's 
skin to be the effect of illness, and hence beheld it 
with pity. This opinion probably originated from the 
effects of a disease with which they are occasionally 
afflicted—a kind of leprosy, which turns the skin of 
the parts affected, white. This impression, however, 
is now most probably removed by the lengthened 
intercourse they have had with foreigners, and the 
residence of European families among them. 
The mental capacity of the Society Islanders has 
been hitherto much more partially developed than their 
physical character. They are remarkably curious and 
inquisitive, and, compared with other Polynesian na¬ 
tions, may be said to possess considerable ingenuity, 
together with mechanical invention and imitation. 
Totally unacquainted with the use of letters, their 
minds could not be improved by any regular or con^ 
tinued culture; yet the distinguishing features of their 
civil polity-—the imposing nature, the numerous ob¬ 
servances, and diversified ramifications of their my¬ 
thology—the legends of their gods—the historical 
songs of their bards—^the beautiful, figurative, and 
impassioned eloquence sometimes displayed in their 
national assemblies—and, above all, the copiousness, 
variety, precision, and purity of their language, with 
their extensive use of numbers—warrant the conclu¬ 
sion, that they possess no contemptible mental capa¬ 
bilities. 
