Omoo Chapter Chapters 47-48

In which the once graceful and spirited customs of the Tahitians, from their attire to their sports and dances, are portrayed as subdued under the stern hand of missionary influence, leaving a languid and altered society deprived of its former vivacity. In which the complex effects of missionary labours are considered with candour, revealing a blend of moral improvement and cultural loss, as well as the difficult truths of an altered Polynesian condition, laid bare by varied testimony and close observation.