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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 82

II.—Population, Products, etc

II.—Population, Products, etc.

The population of the Society Islands, which in 1874 was estimated at 21,000, is now stated at 25,000; but it is not believed there has been any actual increase—the birth and death-rates nearly balancing each other. The foreign and half-caste population is, however, steadily increasing. I append particulars of the population :—
Native 25,000
French 900
English 350
American 250
German 40
Chinese 500
Imported Polynesians 300
Total 27,340

The natives of these Islands dress much better than those of Tonga or Samoa—many of the men wearing trousers, shirt, and hat, while the women all wear (in addition to the pareu or loin cloth) long flowing robes of cotton, muslin, or silk, neatly trimmed straw hats, besides articles of jewellery of European make. In religious and educational respects, the Tahitians occupy nearly the same position as the Samoans; but morally considered, the comparison is against the Tahitians, who have learnt the European vice of over-indulgence in strong drink, and are allowed to practise it freely. Nor has religion produced any real improvement in the morals of the females, who have the loosest possible idea of sexual obligations. Nine-tenths of the population are Protestant, and one-tenth Roman Catholic—the Protestants being under the care of the London and Paris Missionary Societies. The whole of the churches are looked upon as one, through the native preachers all receiving their salaries through the Government; and two beneficial results of this are (1) that the country is spared such painful religious dissensions as obtain in Tonga; and (2) the Government have a complete control over the people. The Tahiti natives very much resemble those of Tonga, but the former are happier and less dignified, while the women are page 39 decidedly handsomer. Their language is a pleasant and musical kind of Maori, with characteristics distinguishing it from other dialects of the Pacific; but so far as habits of industry are concerned, the people do not rise above the uniform dead level of laziness. The French Government have, however, devised a method of getting the Tahitian males to work at road formation. A tax of twelve francs per annum for road-making is levied on all adult males in the island, but in the case of natives, six days' work on the roads is accepted in lieu of payment, and many are thus got to exert themselves in a useful way. The scenery of Tahiti is most picturesque—high mountains of basaltic formation rising in fantastic shape, clothed with verdure, and having wooded vales and limpid streams between. The soil is of excellent quality, and with little cultivation yields abundantly all kinds of tropical produce; but one-third of the island or more consists of such broken country as to render it unfit for use. The total area being 587 square miles, there is a vast extent of country well suited for plantations; but in proportion to the population, and the length of time the island has been colonised, the cultivations are exceedingly meagre. Copra, cotton, vanilla, and oranges are the chief articles produced in Tahiti, while mother-of-pearl and fungus are collected here from the Tuamotu Archipelago, and hence exported to Europe. No minerals of economic value have been discovered in the Society Islands; but at Rapa, a lonely island far to the south-eastward, good coal is said to exist.

There is every facility for the acquisition of land from the natives of Tahiti, but the difficulty caused by a multiplicity of owners applies here as in New Zealand. At present there is abundance of land held by Europeans, which is open for sale; and though in one case it is stipulated that the purchaser must be a French subject, there is in general every inducement to settlers of any nationality whatever. Thus the advantages of the Caisse Agricole, a Government Department for the encouragement of settlement, are open to Frenchmen and foreigners alike. The Caisse Agricole advances money on mortgage or on personal security to industrious settlers, and in various ways offers encouragements for the prosecution of agricultural pursuits.