Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

594 MOKAL EFFECT OF FORCE. DeC. concerned with it ? In consequence of that ignorance, he must inevitably be more or less guided by the advice of parties, of whose individual interest in the matter so short an acquain- tance cannot give him a proper idea. A great deal of prudence, and good management, is required in the commander of a man-of-war, who has any business of consequence to transact with the natives of Polynesia, or who has to deal with his own countrymen in that distant region. A single ship, assisted perhaps by tenders, might, if well com- manded, do more good in a few years among the islands of the Pacific, than can now easily be imagined. But then she must be stationary ; not that she should remain in one place — far from it — her wings should seldom rest ; I mean only that she should stay in the Pacific during thi*ee or four years. In that time so much information might be gained, and so much diffused among the natives ; such a system of vigilant inspection might be established, and so much respect for, and confidence in the British nation, be secured — that our future intercourse with Polynesia would, for a length of time, be rendered easier and infinitely more secure, as well as creditable. The few ships of war which have remained during any length of time among the islands, have been occupied by ex- ploring and surveying, to an extent that has interfered with the earnest consideration of other matters. But in a ship, em- ployed as I have described, a surveyor might be embarked, who would have ample opportunities of increasing our know- ledge of that ocean. And if a sensible man, whose natural abi- lity had been improved by an education unattainable by sailors, could be tempted to bear the trials and losses of a long sea voyage, in a busily employed ship, how much might Science profit by the labours of three or four such years .'' Having thus entered freely into ideas which I have so often dwelt upon that they are become familiar, I will venture to suggest the kind of ship which would do most, in my hum- ble opinion, at the least ultimate expense consistent with efficiency. Moral influence over the minds of natives, as well as over wanderers from our own or other countries, is a pri-