"Have you, then, no parties?" said I.
"Oh yes; we are not without our political parties and disputes; and we
sometimes wrangle about very small matters--such as, what amount of
labour shall be bestowed on the public roads--the best modes of
conducting our schools and colleges--the comparative merits of the
candidates for office, or the policy of some proposed change in the
laws. Man is made, you know, of very combustible materials, and may be
kindled as effectually by a spark falling at the right time, in the
right place, as when within reach of a great conflagration."
The women appeared here to be under few restraints. I understood that
they were taught, like our sex, all the speculative branches of
knowledge, but that they were more especially instructed, by professed
teachers, in cookery, needlework, and every sort of domestic economy; as
were the young men in the occupations which require strength and
exposure. They have a variety of public schools, and some houses for
public festivals, but no public hospitals or almshouses whatever, the
few cases of private distress or misfortune being left for relief to the
merits of the sufferer and the compassion of individuals.
After passing a week among this singular and fortunate people, whom we
every where found equally amiable, intelligent, and hospitable, we
returned to Alamatua in the same way that we had come; that is, in a
light car, drawn by four large mastiffs.
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