Page:EB1911 - Volume 26.djvu/378

 the stronger European strains — were plentiful even in Wallis's days. The ornithology is very poor as compared with that of the Western Pacific; the Society Islands possess no peculiar genera and but few peculiar species. They claim, however, a thrush, several small parrots of great beauty, doves, pigeons, rails and a sandpiper (Tringa leucoptera). A jungle-fowl (var. of Gallus bankiva) is found in the mountains, but as domesticated fowls were abundant, even when Tahiti was first discovered by Europeans, these wild birds are doubtless the offspring of tame birds. The_ lagoons swarm with fish of many species. Insects are poor in species, though some of them are indigenous. Crustaceans and molluscs, on the other hand, are well represented; worms, echinoderms, and corals comparatively poorly. A noteworthy feature of Tahitian conchology is the number of peculiar species belonging to the genus Partula, almost every valley being the habitat of a distinct form.

Flora.—The flora, though luxuriant and greatly enhancing the beauty of the islands, is not very rich. It is, however, less poor in trees, shrubs and hardwood plants, than in the smaller undergrowth. Orchids, including some beautiful species, and ferns are abundant; but, here as in Polynesia generally, Rubiaceae is the order best represented. Remarkable are the banana thickets, which grow at an altitude of from 3000 to 5000 ft. Along the shore—in some places almost to the extinction of all native growth—many exotics have established themselves; and a great variety of fruit-bearing and other useful trees have been introduced.

Inhabitants.—The Tahitians are a typical Polynesian race, closely connected physically with the Marquesans and Rarotongans, but widely divided from them in many of their customs. The dialects, also, of the three groups are different, the Tahitian being perhaps the softest in all Oceania. The women rank with the most beautiful of the Pacific, though the accounts given of them by early voyagers are much exaggerated; and for general symmetry of form the people are unsurpassed by any race in the world. Even now in its decadence, after generations of drunkenness and European disease and vice, grafted on inborn indolence and licentiousness, many tall and robust people (6 ft. and even upwards in height) are to be found. Men and women of good birth can generally be distinguished by their height and fairness, and often, even in early age, by their enormous corpulence. The skin varies from a very light olive to a full dark brown. The wavy or curly hair and the expressive eyes are black, or nearly so; the mouth is large, but well-shaped and set with beautiful teeth; the nose broad (formerly flattened in infancy by artificial means); and the chin well developed.

History.—The discovery and early exploration of the Society Islands is treated under that heading. In 1788, when Lieutenant Bligh in the "Bounty" visited Tahiti, the leading chief was Pomare, whose family had been pre-eminent in the island for