DRESS AN INCENTIVE TO INDUSTRY. 405 
with which that dress is regarded, that the evil 
exists—and that pride does not consist in the 
wearing of apparel superior to that to which an 
individual may have been accustomed, or to that 
worn by others, provided it be suitable to his cir¬ 
cumstances, and the society with which he asso¬ 
ciates—they did not disapprove of the native 
dresses. But considering the danger to arise 
from substituting external adornment for internal 
worth, and imagining that distinction in dress 
confers an advantage on its wearer, or entitles 
him to that which he would not otherwise assume 
—the Missionaries were led to conclude, that a 
Tahitian, arrayed in a scarlet and yellow tiputa, 
or invested in the rich fold of his ahu puu, was 
perhaps as humble in mind as those who appeared 
desirous to divest themselves of every exterior 
ornament. Their principal aim, however, was to 
encourage habits of industry; and this, from the 
heat of the climate, the spontaneous productions 
of the soil, and other causes, appeared likely to 
be done by the introduction of what might be 
called artificial wants, which should operate on 
the native mind with power sufficient to induce 
labour for their supply. Idleness has been a 
most fruitful source of many of their vices and 
sufferings; and when we have seen the females 
working with their needle, or with the straw for 
their bonnets, &c. we could not but deem it an 
occupation far more conducive to their enjoyment, 
than indolence, or their former unprofitable and 
often injurious pastimes. It is not to be expected 
that a people unaccustomed to mental effort should 
be constantly engaged with their books. They 
did not relax in their attendance at the school, or 
