第71章
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  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。

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