PEOPLES OF PACIFIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 249, 20 October 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

PEOPLES OF PACIFIC.

ORIGIN AND MIGRATIONS.

iSIAXT RACE.

AFFINITY TO NEGROES.

KEEN" AGRICULTURISTS,

< By SIR GEORGE GREY, ex-Governor of Cape Colony, feoutli Australia, and New Zealand.)

flu, the first article of this series written P , Ji&" Auc £ laiK l S^ r " by Sir George Grey In 1893, and not then published in our eoinmne, the author recounted some of the piyths and ancestral legends of the two / great Pacific races.)

These _ two races, the Polynesian ah l Slelanesian, speaking nearly allied lan guages, apparently sprung from differ ( ent sources, possess habits and custom •>y of very similar nature. They appea never to have occupied themselves wit] the pursuit of game, but to have de pended in great part for their subsis tence upon their vicinity to the ocean TfWch supplied them with abundance o i flsh and shell-fish, which formed one o: • ihe principal articles of their diet The> also, depended upon the products of the soil, and mainly upon cultiva ted ones, for the remaining portion o1 j '.ipuir subsistence. Fishing thus forms one of their mosl Important occupations, and from theii continual devotion to that pursuit the\ become trained to the sea, experienced jailors and constructors of canoes; in deed, in the early days of whaling fa, the Pacific, Polynesian natives injWiaolr formed a, highly valuable porof the crews of whalers. ■ ,?s£*? 80me knowledge of the position and movements of the heavenly Bodies, and names for the principal planets and stars. Their knowledge of the positions of the stars enabled them, vfefa.ttaea during fine nights, to regulate their course with sufficient accujacy for their purposes. - 11180 80 birgely upon cultiproducts of the earth for their ■;loot, each of these races became' natuattached to agricultural pursuits. . ijttur plantations are models of neatv «ad care, and' probably no other itaM possesses a great knowledge of all pings which are necessary for the proper v ® wants. As a necessary conseffMM of these agricultural tastes, they I WMtfent judges of soil, they delight locations, and attach a lugh mtarto land. Hence they defend with tte utmost obstinacy their landed posMriou, and are prepared to run any ' i take from others lands which mof unusual fertility; in fact, moTt ■ contests and long-continued Mtmmlly arose from efforts made We tribe to dem-ive anntw —

:; fMM territory. Migrations of Tiibea. aSL?*. *an»e cause U066 fpequen 23!&£fLj£jfcribjBS, who, disaatisfle tj&tke fertility of the spots they odea in search of more pro £? m "impllqlty of fori ftorjfcem health; their agriculttnl ■Mani and frequent wars gave thei *W«tth andenergy. Their pursuits thu •Mnbfr fitted them for action eithe ■ JMhaiwsea. - Jge&ikest race with curly hair, th Melanesians,. who have in k\ SLfTK?* , a afflnitytoih SB**— of Africa, appear' to hav ' constitutions which rende *• Uttfc liable to «U«k. „( torn Jbjjr generally occupy those island JiiA are unhealthy from being sub Mtomslana. Thev are the least ski] '"8? of the two races, bu tk ®7 »ettled they carried wit Fgithe constitutions and arts of thei 4Vtet»rogenitors. Polynesian and Helanesian nee P**F*red for the. task they wer ftS es gia g ,oUowin c - navigators and agr They were practised fishei » knowledge of netting. The wnaeoMlrnet canoes fitted to perfori Hy ~ considerable extent. The' "■■" jake stone tools for the ordir ■y ygposes of carpentry, and also a gyy stone and wooden agriculture ' ffiSr e T 00111(1 execute ski] " 10 i r wooden H ston tE2S&%' purposes of warfar gTMwa tho»o of the inhabitants o yinng the stone ages. The gM tafla maps of slight wooden bat L p r. angles to one anothe of ParaJlele of longit latitude, the intersections c iSU fastened in their prope * 'Ef •?. that small pebbles tied to th C-Py.yMcn they crossed each othe mat an island stood in tha Melaneaians could mak .Pottery, and coul *5. work at least on r^JS"^ bl y other metals, althoug iSjjyto where they are now foun lost the knowledg ®"t like some African races J?,?!®' complete knowledge of th and arrows, and like th poisoned arrows, whfc certain death, precede s f® e symptoms as wer K. Yvf.fo *«• African poisoned arrowf 2: O Y ne * knß .were ignorant of th kla i i ~ arrows. Both race iT ~ . * Creator of the univerw tw. prayers and Incanta eu * Priests and youth acknowledged chieftains dc Mtk m„r° m . endowe pod o2S2f a i P° wer "» wer ai i recounters of tradi which they were ver; B M fairy tales, compose jt*ere fond of their own musi JpSh and made use of these fo the courage c jWi'"' the moment of onset upo: ' Stßhl>oni Endurance. -patient, and endowed wit i endurance under difficultie could subsist on a amal plainest and most simpl nnacqnamted with the use « HJ««*ating drinks,.although in eom „ plant was found,-the ■HeS&9£&& drink made froi yßtlcma » M an excitin aaZZs** were fond of home an ®ould with pleasur tar oth#r^-l! ye ' far diat ant froi HfcKjSF*®' with the car Mie£^& and chi, dren, and atten iof their gardens an SKLt'Ajhe weavSig of gai tasteful colouredborders,th fcZ'g ? _cloaks, the netting e hs . WiiUff Jade and bone ornament) l| g -** , ™ng of canoes, fashionin Ift W? 7*f 10 w °od» atone, an lHi r lWiil carving and makin |mjK*oo|M often of the moat quain erecting houses an pmidingg ) sometimes profusel c arvings, careful!; coloured, making musica ffTT would be weari KhBS i °° enumerating the detail) intereetinfc S|§ much ia avidani^

pursuits, the mmw u° f the'-purposes' which reader comfortable ,„d tke Itt. ficationn £? reckoned inferior in qualications to the mass of the poiiulaVinrw of Tandina" ißed raceß -. whit °? ? n island had no terrors for them. Their leading knowrog in what persons these mjratepowers rested was perhaps the chief reason why they preserved so «ireSllv the remembrance of their geneaWy $■ • generations, teachin| B uS Sows ledge carefully to their chiMren and > preserving in every family oT hanj a carved stick, which greatly aided tfcp mem or y and powerS Se remembrance of the names andSftions W^ 0m they were descended. X el 7 earl y period, when the com'paratively speaking highly-civilised races SLT„ klDd rarely ' if ever ' Jong voyages, and were acquainted tLT'? POrti ° n of **• earth's surtace, these two singular anH enter prising peoples had. TrSt i , India ? Pacific Oceans: or ofS, 7 tJ ? ird , B of the circumferanfte longitude. , The islands S« h^ + l n - oceani? were occupied their numerous settlements, the inhabitants of each of which, however remote from other countries, were subjected to the same peculiar and unnrogressive civilisation. Until within the last three or four hundred years th«> nations of Europe were entirely ignorant of the really great events which were in these respects taking place in a remote portion of the earth. They knew not that two unknown races were preparing in distant lands homes to be afterwards occupied by great European nations, apparently destined to become so numerous Powerful that they will influence world/ 06 throughout the (3V> be QODtinadtl