Polynesia

sented illustrating the progress which has been already made at the various settlements on the coast; describing the productions of the soil, both natural and exotic; and setting forth the vast capability of improvement in agriculture, fishing, manufactures, and, indeed, in every other field of human industry.

In delineating the state of the inhabitants in the smaller islands of the Pacific, the author has enjoyed the great advantage of perusing an unpublished work, written by a distinguished officer resident some years in that part of the globe, and which is repeatedly quoted under the title of a Manuscript Journal or Diary. The details are the more interesting that they appear not to have been intended for the press; being confined to the casual observations of an intelligent mind, invited to contemplate a new state of things, and under circumstances which could not have occurred had his position in society been materially different.

It has not been thought expedient to enter very deeply into the question which respects the origin of the Polynesian tribes, and the source whence their languages have been derived. On this subject, the reader will find much interesting discussion in the works of Reland, Forster, Crawfurd, Zuniga, Ellis, Lang, and in the posthumous volumes of William Humboldt. The more minute acquaintance with the natives, which has been obtained through the medium of recent voyagers, leaves no room for doubt that their progenitors must have proceeded from the eastern shores of Asia, and gradually spread, through various channels and at successive periods, over the surface of the great South Sea.

To the missionaries, the divine and the philosopher are greatly indebted for much valuable knowledge relative to the mythology, the traditions, the laws, government, and usages of the simple people whom they have brought within the pale of revealed religion

From the same source has been gained an acquaintance with their superstitions, their objects of worship, their notions of a future state, their arts of sorcery and divination, their mode of carrying on war, and, more especially, the atrocities of human sacrifice with which their battles were wont to be preceded and followed. Not less interesting are the details which illustrate the progress of education among the subjects of Pomare in the Georgian cluster, and of Tamehameha in the Sandwich Islands. Under such influence the power of civilization has everywhere made itself felt in a greater or less degree, combined with the principles of that divine faith which, while it elevates the standard of morality and taste, directs the thoughts of the convert to his eternal destination.

In the department of natural history, due notice is taken of the various hypotheses which have been entertained in relation to the structure of the several classes of islands spread over the Pacific, viewed in connexion with the causes to which they are imagined to owe their present form. The volcanic origin of the larger ones is illustrated by a reference to the rocks of which they are composed; while the extent to which the saxigenous polypes contribute to the elevation of others, is carefully estimated according to the clearest principles that science or observation has hitherto supplied.

In the other branches of natural science there is still a great deficiency of information, owing as well to the peculiar races of plants and animals which occupy Polynesia, as to the fact that the missionaries, having in view much more important objects, do not devote any particular attention to the zoology, the flora, or the silva of the respective islands. For this reason it has been resolved to defer all details on these various heads till a future occasion, when, in a separate work on Australasia, will be given, by a distinguished naturalist, a complete and systematic view of the sub

ject as it respects the whole of the inhabited lands in the bosom of the South Sea.

The Map provided by the Publishers, with the view of illustrating the position of the several insular groups which fall within the compass of this volume, is constructed on the most approved principle, and presents to the reader, in a very intelligible form, the discoveries of all the recent voyagers in that vast expanse of ocean which stretches from Australia to the western shores of America.

August, 1852.

In the present edition the whole work has been revised, and Chapters XI., XII., and XIII., have been added. But in the case of a few names whose spelling has been altered by general recent usage, the old form, as Otaheite, Owhyhee, &c., has been allowed to stand in the body of the work, while the new form, as Tahiti, Hawaii, &c., has been used in the addition.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

ON THE PHYSICAL ASPECT OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS, AND THE

SUPPOSED ORIGIN OF THEIR INHABITANTS.

Introductory Remarks on the Extent and Importance of the

Subject-The geographical Position of the Islands to be de-

scribed-The Effect of civilized Life on the external Quali-

ties of Nature-The Import of the Term Polynesia —The

various Clusters of Islands specified-Melanesia, a Name

which has reference to the Colour of the Inhabitants-Geo-

logical Structure of the several Islands-Their volcanic

Origin The Natural History of Coral Reefs-The Extent to