POLYNESIA.

CHAPTER I.

On the Physical Aspect of the South Sea Islands, and the sup posed Origin of their Inhabitants.

Introductory Remarks on the Extent and Importance of the SubjectThe geographical Position of the Islands to be described - The Effect of civilized Life on the external Qualities 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-Geological Structure of the several Islands-Their volcanic Origin-The Natural History of Coral Reefs-The Extent to which the saxigenous Polypes contribute in their Formation-Opinion of Mr. Forster-Distinction between High and Low Islands, or Mountainous and Hilly-Both Classes surrounded by a coral Belt-Owe their Origin to the same physical Causes-Mode and Rate of Operation by the Animalcules considered-Extraction of the several Classes of Inhabitants-Opinions of Reland, Crawfurd, Zuniga, Ellis, and Lang-Considerations as to Language, Manners, and Antiquities.

UNTIL very lately the islands of the Great Southern ocean were hardly known to Europeans in any other light than that of maritime romance; the scene on which some of our most renowned seamen performed their part as discoverers, and where they attempted to introduce the benefits of civilization among a new people. From their reports, at first somewhat deficient in accuracy, it was gradually made known that certain green spots on the bosom of the Pacific were occasionally visited by the weary sailor, whose eye was fatigued with the monotonous view of the vast deep, or who might be threatened with the diseases incident to a long voyage in a tropical climate. But as yet, the narrative of adventure in those distant waters served only, like the Arabian tales, to regale the imagination, by exhibiting pictures of a natural magnificence not witnessed in colder regions, and of a childish simplicity in the unsophisticated tribes by whom the several groups were

inhabited. It was not till a period comparatively recent that the philosopher was invited to contemplate human nature at one of the most interesting epochs of its history; that the attention of the statesman was drawn to a rising commonwealth on the highway between the African continent and the western shores of America; or that the Christian world was cheered with the prospect of a new province being added to the peaceful dominions of the church.

In no point of view, indeed, is this subject more interesting to the philanthropist than as it illustrates the benign effects of true religion on the mind of man, even in his rudest state, and when still surrounded by the strongest inducements to evil. The rapid improvement which, in the Sandwich, the Friendly, and the Society islands, has followed the labours of missionary zeal, is not less gratifying as a reward for past exertions than when regarded as an encouragement to future endeavours. In those remote establishments the savage has been seen to rise, as it were by a single effort, from the lowest condition in which human nature is ever found, to the erect posture of a civilized being; from the worship of the most contemptible idols to a veneration of the true God; and from habits of the grossest barbarism to the pursuit of rational knowledge and the love of refined enjoyment.

About twenty years had elapsed from the time that Columbus discovered America, when Vasco Nunez de Balboa beheld from a mountain in the isthmus of Darien the immense expanse of the ocean spreading out before him toward the setting sun. He was not aware that his eyes were then directed to a sea which stretches round the whole circumference of the globe, and contains, between the Cape of Good Hope and the shores whereon he stood, a multitude of islands, some of them equal to the mightiest kingdoms of the old world, and one at least not inferior in extent to the whole of Europe. In truth, no scene could be more magnificent, whether as it respected the actual vision, or as it afforded scope to the fancy of an aspiring voyager. The various regions which lie scattered over its bosom possess all the advantages of a rich soil and a genial atmosphere, displaying at once the full beauty of spring combined with the luxuriance of autumn. Tufted groves mingle their foliage with the brilliant enamel of the meadows; while a perfume of exquisite sweetness embalms the air, which is constantly refreshed by delightful breezes from the ocean. The spontaneous productions of the earth exempt the inhabi

tants from all painful labour; the bread-tree yields a plentiful supply of food without demanding any severe return of care or toil; and the surrounding waters, rendered smooth by coral reefs, offer a great variety of fish, which can be obtained by means so simple as to resemble sport rather than an irksome drudgery.

It will nevertheless be acknowledged that, without the hand of man, the finest scenes of nature are imperfect. Even under the most propitious climates, and with the richest mould, if mind has not been exerted to improve or direct their energies, the result is unsatisfactory, often offensive to the eye and disappointing to the hopes. Wherever the human being, the lord of this portion of creation, has neglected to interpose his industry, the vegetable and animal tribes remain destitute of the excellence which they are capable of attaining; they even languish and decay though enjoying every physical advantage. In most parts of the world unvisited by the arts of civilized life, impenetrable woods cover the surface; the trees are seen mutilated by the storm, or rotting on the ground; the fertile plain is encumbered with noxious weeds, or soaked with stagnant water; and everything that seems to grow is suffocated by an exuberant vegetation.

But as soon as the colonist from an enlightened country appears in such desolate regions, he eradicates the useless plants, and supplies their place with others fitted to give nourishment to himself and to the domestic animals whose service he employs. By removing all that is broken down and decayed, he relieves the air from putrefying effluvia; by opening a passage for the motionless waters, he gives to them an increasing limpidity, rendering them beneficial to all the tenants of his new abode; while the earth, by receiving the kindly influence of the atmosphere, becomes dry, and has its face soon covered with a lively verdure. The rays of the vertical sun no sooner begin to parch the surface of his field or vineyard, than he diffuses over them the refreshing water of the passing brook, and preserves the powers of vegetation. How beautiful and beneficent does nature become when improved by the industry of man, and what happy changes are produced by the arts of civilized life! The contrast now stated still meets the eye of the mariner, according as he happens to visit the wilds of New Zealand, or to approach the gentler shores of Otaheite, the fairest isle in the South sea.*

* Buffon, Première Vue de la Nature. Forster's Observations made during a Voyage round the World (4to, Lond. 1778), p. 135.

These remarks will receive a striking illustration from comparing the present state of even that oceanic para lise, which owes so much to nature, with its condition as we find it described by the early navigators. The neat cottages which now display their white walls through the beautiful shrubberies wherewith they are surrounded; the ornamented gardens formed by the missionaries, who have also conveyed to them the finest fruits of Europe; and the regular fields which stretch along the valleys, protected by hedges or painted palisales, appear to the greatest alvantage when seen in connexion with the wild scenery of the mountains and the dark sha les of the native forests. In all cases, indeed, intellectual as well as physical, Providence bestows upon man only the raw material, leaving the improvement, whether for use or decoration, to his own industry and taste. Without culture the richest soil and the highest mental endowment are equally unprofitable; the one produces poisonous plants to deform the landscape, and cover it with the shadow of death; the other gives power to the worst passions, disgraces the intercourse of life, and exposes the dearest interests of society to the most frightful hazards.

Polynesia, according to our acceptation of the term, comprehends the several groups which lie within fifty degrees on either sile of the prime meridian, and between the fiftieth parallel of south, and the thirtieth of north latitude; embracing an extent of ocean equal to about seven thousand miles in the one direction, and nearly five thousand six hundred miles in the other. The principal clusters are the Ladrone islands; the Caroline; the Pelew; the Solomon; New Hebri.les; the Fijee; the Sandwich; the Marquesas; the Low, Coral, or Dangerous islands; the Society and Georgian group; the Navigators' islands; the Friendly islands; the Austral isles; and New Zealand. In addition to these there are many detached islets, or fragments of land, which will demand our notice, such as Pitcairn's, Easter, Chatham, Fanning's, and others not less important in the history of South sea discovery.

Viewed on a large scale, the various insular groups which may be traced between the eastern borders of the old continents and the western shores of the new, include a much wider range than those now mentioned, more especially if we take in the great Indian archipelago, the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. But these vast tracts do not fall within the limits of our plan, which likewise rejects New Holland

and its dependancies, now commonly known under the designation of Australia. With reference to the colour of the native inhabitants, the latter portion is by some French authors denominated Melanesia, or the Black islands, including, besides the principal one just mentioned, the settlement of Van Diemen's Land, New Guinea, New Ireland, New Hanover, the Solomon islands, the Louisiade archipelago, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and part of the Fijees. But we do not consider the complexion of the aborigines a sufficient ground of distinction in a work the object of which is not to give the physical history of mankind, nor to support any particular theory as to the natural causes of those varieties in colour and conformation which mark the usual scientific distributions of the human race. In relating the more prominent events that attended the progress of discovery, as well as those which have more recently given an interest to the introduction of religious knowledge and civilization, we assume a wider principle as the basis of our narrative; restricting it only to such limits as convenience has suggested as suitable to the extent of a single volume. The other portions of Oceanica, that vast space, namely, which stretches from the sea of China to California, and from the isles of Japan to those of South Orkney, may hereafter invite the attention of our readers in a different form.

The name Polynesia was first applied to this interesting portion of the globe by the learned President de Brosses, in his History of Navigation, though two centuries earlier the same term had been used by certain authors with relation to the Moluccas, the Philippines, and some smaller groups situated still farther to the eastward. In several recent publications, the great islands of the Indian archipelago are called the Hither Polynesia, while the more numerous clusters which extend into the bosom of the southern Pacific are described as the Farther Polynesia.

Before entering on the details of discovery and settlement, it may prove not less entertaining than instructive to give an outline of the physical characters and geographical distribution of the several islands which constitute that portion of Oceanica, more especially as connected with the two principal causes to which they are supposed to owe their present form; namely, the action of volcanoes, and the working of the small insect usually denominated the coral polypus.

Nature has unquestionably given to that section of the