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Bligh nodded. “I have been told of his ideas,” he said, “though unfortunately I left school too young to learn French. But if a rough seaman may express an opinion on a subject more suited to a philosopher, I believe that true happiness can only be enjoyed by a disciplined and enlightened people. As for the Indians of Tahiti, though they are freed from the fear of want, their conduct is regulated by a thousand absurd restrictions, which no civilized man would put up with. These restrictions constitute a kind of unwritten law, called taboo, and instead of making for a wholesome discipline they lay down fanciful and unjust rules to control every action of a man’s life. A few days among men in a state of nature might have changed Monsieur Rousseau’s ideas.” He paused and turned to me. “You know French, then?” he asked, as if to include me in the talk.

“Yes, sir,” I replied.

“I do him justice, Mr. Bligh,” my mother put in; “he has a gift for languages. My son might pass for a native of France or Italy, and is making progress in German now. His Latin won him a prize last year.”