Inpointofmorality,thevirtueofthewomen,ithasbeenoftensaid,ismostopentoexception。Butbeforetheyareblamedtooseverely,itwillbewelldistinctlytocalltomindthescenesdescribedbyCaptainCookandMr。Banks,inwhichthegrandmothersandmothersofthepresentraceplayedapart。Thosewhoaremostsevere,shouldconsiderhowmuchofthemoralityofthewomeninEuropeisowingtothesystemearlyimpressedbymothersontheirdaughters,andhowmuchineachindividualcasetothepreceptsofreligion。Butitisuselesstoargueagainstsuchreasoners;——
Ibelievethat,disappointedinnotfindingthefieldoflicentiousnessquitesoopenasformerly,theywillnotgivecredittoamoralitywhichtheydonotwishtopractise,ortoareligionwhichtheyundervalue,ifnotdespise。
Sunday,22nd——TheharbourofPapiete,wherethequeenresides,maybeconsideredasthecapitaloftheisland:itisalsotheseatofgovernment,andthechiefresortofshipping。CaptainFitzRoytookapartytherethisdaytoheardivineservice,firstintheTahitianlanguage,andafterwardsinourown。Mr。Pritchard,theleadingmissionaryintheisland,performedtheservice。Thechapelconsistedofalargeairyframeworkofwood;anditwasfilledtoexcessbytidy,cleanpeople,ofallagesandbothsexes。
Iwasratherdisappointedintheapparentdegreeofattention;butIbelievemyexpectationswereraisedtoohigh。AtalleventstheappearancewasquiteequaltothatinacountrychurchinEngland。Thesingingofthehymnswasdecidedlyverypleasing,butthelanguagefromthepulpit,althoughfluentlydelivered,didnotsoundwell:aconstantrepetitionofwords,like“tatata,matamai。”rendereditmonotonous。AfterEnglishservice,apartyreturnedonfoottoMatavai。Itwasapleasantwalk,sometimesalongthesea-beachandsometimesundertheshadeofthemanybeautifultrees。
Abouttwoyearsago,asmallvesselunderEnglishcolourswasplunderedbysomeoftheinhabitantsoftheLowIslands,whichwerethenunderthedominionoftheQueenofTahiti。Itwasbelievedthattheperpetratorswereinstigatedtothisactbysomeindiscreetlawsissuedbyhermajesty。
......购买会员看全站小说,或者下载APP免费观看所有作品 点击立即下载,搜索"THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE",免费读到尾