With
remarkable justice, a certain period was allowed for stock in hand
to be sold, before the law came into effect. But when it did, a
general search was made, in which even the houses of the
missionaries were not exempted, and all the ava (as the natives
call all ardent spirits) was poured on the ground. When one
reflects on the effect of intemperance on the aborigines of the two
Americas, I think it will be acknowledged that every well-wisher of
Tahiti owes no common debt of gratitude to the missionaries. As
long as the little island of St. Helena remained under the
government of the East India Company, spirits, owing to the great
injury they had produced, were not allowed to be imported; but wine
was supplied from the Cape of Good Hope. It is rather a striking,
and not very gratifying fact, that in the same year that spirits
were allowed to be sold in St. Helena, their use was banished from
Tahiti by the free will of the people.
After breakfast we proceeded on our journey. As my object was
merely to see a little of the interior scenery, we returned by
another track, which descended into the main valley lower down. For
some distance we wound, by a most intricate path, along the side of
the mountain which formed the valley.
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