22 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
Rain falls but seldom on the western shores of any of 
the islands, excepting in the season above mentioned, 
though showers are frequent on the eastern or windward 
side, and in the mountains occur almost daily. 
The soil is rich in those parts which have long been 
free from volcanic eruptions ; but the general appear¬ 
ance of the country is hardly so inviting as when first 
discovered; many parts, then under cultivation, are 
now lying waste. 
The natives are in general rather above the middle 
stature, well formed, with fine muscular limbs, open 
countenances, and features frequently resembling those 
of Europeans. Their gait is graceful, and sometimes 
stately. The chiefs in particular are tall and stout, and 
their personal appearance is so much superior to that of 
the common people, that some have imagined them 
a distinct race. This, however, is not the fact; the 
great care taken of them in childhood, and their better 
living, have probably occasioned the difference. Their 
hair is black or brown, strong, and frequently curly; 
their complexion is neither yellow like the Malays, nor 
red like the American Indians, but a kind of olive, and 
sometimes reddish-brown. Their arms, and other parts 
of the body, arc tatau’d; but, except in one of the 
islands, this is by no means so common as in many 
parts of the Southern sea. 
Compared with the inhabitants of other islands, they 
may be termed numerous. They were estimated by 
their discoverers at 400,000. There is reason to believe 
this was somewhat above the actual population at that 
time, though traces of deserted villages, and numerous 
enclosures formerly cultivated, but now abandoned, 
are every where to be met with. At present it does 
