RECENT INCREASE OF POPULATION . 109 
of deaths exceeded that of births. About the 
years 1819 and 1820 they were nearly equal, and 
since that period population has been rapidly 
increasing, 
It was not till the account of deaths and births 
was presented, that we had an adequate idea of 
the affecting depopulation that had been going on; 
and if, for several years after infanticide, inebria¬ 
tion, human sacrifices, and war, were discontinued, 
the number of deaths exceeded that of the births ; 
how appalling must that excess have been, when 
all these destructive causes were in full operation! 
There is now, however, every ground to indulge 
the expectation that the population will become 
greater than it has been in any former period of 
their history; and it is satisfactory, in connexion 
with this anticipation, to know—that an extent of 
soil capable of cultivation, and other resources, 
are adequate to the maintenance of a population 
tenfold increased above its present numbers. 
The origin of the inhabitants of the South Sea 
Islands, in common with other parts of Polynesia, 
is a subject perhaps of more interest and curiosity, 
than of importance and practical utility. The vast 
extent of geographical surface covered by the race 
of which they form an integral portion, the ana¬ 
logy in character, the identity in language, &c., 
the remote distance at which the different tribes 
are placed from each other, and the isolated spots 
which they occupy in the vast expanse of sur¬ 
rounding water, render the source whence they 
were derived, one of the mysteries connected with 
the history of our species. 
To a Missionary, the business of whose life is 
with the people among whom he is stationed, 
every thing relating to their history is, at least, 
