" Most of our ship’s company procured temporary wives amongst the natives, with whom they occasionally cohabited; an indulgence which even many reputed virtuous Europeans allow themselves, in uncivilized parts of the world, with impunity; as if a change of place altered the moral turpitude of fornications; and what is a sin in Europe, is only a simple innocent gratification in America; which is to suppose that the obligation to chastity is local, and restricted only to particular parts of the globe."

Sydney Parkinson about Tahiti, 1769