This interesting little colony was now found to contain about forty-six
persons, mostly grown-up young people, with a few infants. The young men
all born on the island were finely formed, athletic and handsome--their
countenances open and pleasing, indicating much benevolence and goodness
of heart, but the young women particularly were objects of attraction,
being tall, robust, and beautifully formed, their faces beaming with
smiles, and indicating unruffled good humour; while their manners and
demeanour exhibited a degree of modesty and bashfulness, that would have
done honour to the most virtuous and enlightened people on earth. Their
teeth are described as beautifully white, like the finest ivory, and
perfectly regular, without a single exception; and all of them, both
male and female, had the marked expression of English features, though
not exactly the clear red and white, that distinguish English skins,
theirs being the colour of what we call brunette. Captain Pipon thinks
that from such a race of people, consisting of fine young men and
handsome well-formed women, there may be expected to arise hereafter, in
this little colony, a race of people possessing in a high degree the
physical qualifications of great strength, united with symmetry of form
and regularity of feature.
But their personal qualifications, attractive as they were, excited less
admiration than the account which Adams gave of their virtuous conduct.
He assured his visitors that not one instance of debauchery or immoral
conduct had occurred among these young people, since their settlement on
the island; nor did he ever hear, or believe, that any one instance had
occurred of a young woman having suffered indecent liberties to be taken
with her. Their native modesty, assisted by the precepts of religion and
morality, instilled into their young minds by John Adams, had hitherto
preserved these interesting people from every kind of debauchery. The
young women told Captain Pipon, with great simplicity, that they were
not married, and that their father, as they called Adams, had told them
it was right they should wait with patience till they had acquired
sufficient property to bring up a young family, before they thought of
marrying; and that they always followed his advice because they knew it
to be good.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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