THE PACIFIC

Southland Times, Issue 20146, 5 April 1927, Page 8

THE PACIFIC

SOME MYSTERIES. £N INTERESTING LECTURE. Professor J. Macmillan Brown delivered a lecture recently before the Canterbury Justices of the Peace Association on the “Mysteries of the Pacific.” There was a large attendance of members, reports the Lyttelton Times. Professor Brown said that the Pacific was still a mystery to geologists. There were three theories regarding its formation: First, that the sinking of a huge continent had made it; second, that the land now in the Pacific had been formed by volcanic action; and, third, that the great basin now filled by the ocean was left when the moon was thrown off by the earth. Another theory, which had been advanced during the last two years by a German scientist, held that the continents are drifting westward and the parting of Africa and America had left the Pacific. The greatest mystery of all was the people of the Pacific. “There is a great difference between the Polynesians and the Melanesians,” said the professor. “The Polynesians have all the European features, while the Melanesians are distinctly negroid. The Polynesians are far more advanced in the men’s arts, although the Melanesians lead in the women’s arts.” The Polynesians were more advanced in canoe-making, but the Melanesians had a much better way of making fire. The double canoe or outrigger was invented in Polynesia. “The first form of our language and of Latin was Maori or Polynesian. The first three numerals are nearly the same, but after that all the numerals are totally different. The Polynesian language could not have come from Sanskrit.” Another curious thing was that Polynesia has never had pottery, although pottery has been in general use in Melanesia from time immemorial. Pottery is a woman’s art. “The lack of pottery in Polynesia shows that the people must have left Europe at least twelve or fifteen thousand years ago.” The accepted theory that the Polynesian race came via the Malay Archipelago seemed to be inconclusive, as it was unlikely that a race travelling in canoes would migrate against the prevailing trade winds. “Why these

people should have left the rich islands of Malaya for the barren islands of the Pacific is a mystery which I will leave you to consider,” he said. Easter Island was another of the mysteries of the Pacific, as there were records there of arts, such as keeping records by cutting in stone, which were entirely absent in other parts of Polynesia. There is evidence to believe that Easter Island was the centre of a huge archipelago. The 500 elaborate burial platforms of stone, which fringe the island, and the huge statues indicate a leisured class and a vast slave population. There must once have been more land under the rule of Easter Island, as it will now hardly support its 2500 population. In conclusion, the professor said, “I think that the great monuments of Easter Island, carved with records which no one can decipher, are a fitting commentary on the passion for fame.” Lantern slides were shown illustrating the lecture.