Answer:
These are the Tahitians. They are compared to Europeans (line 12).
Bougainville compares them for several reasons:
- He reports his observations to Europeans, so he takes them as a point of comparison so that they better understand who the Tahitians are.
- It's also a way, by saying the qualities of this people, to show the faults of the Europeans with whom they live, to get them to take a step back and to judge themselves and see their faults.