Polynesian Navigation: A symposium on Andrew Sharp's Theory of Accidental Voyages

Te Ao Hou, March 1964, Page 55

Polynesian Navigation: A symposium on Andrew Sharp's Theory of Accidental Voyages edited by Jack Golson The Polynesian Society, 15/- An earlier book by Andrew Sharp, ‘Ancient Voyagers in the Pacific’, was published by the Polynesian Society in 1956, and the following year was republished by Penguin Books of London. It argues that the discovery and settlement of the Pacific Islands was primarily due not to deliberate voyages of exploration, but to accidental, involuntary ones; Sharp dismisses, for example, the Maori traditions of planned mass migrations, and he claims that no two-way voyages between ‘Hawaiki’ and New Zealand would have been possible. ‘Ancient Voyagers in the Pacific’ quickly became one of the most widely known works of Pacific anthropology, and one of the most controversial. Now two new books have appeared which take the question further. One of them, ‘Ancient Voyagers in Polynesia’, is a restatement by Sharp of his views, incorporating a considerable amount of new material. The other book, ‘Polynesian Navigation’, is a symposium, published by The Polynesian Society, in which five experts in different fields analyse at length Sharp's discussions of the contemporary European evidence concerning traditional Oceanic voyaging, the performance of Oceanic canoes, and the nature of the early navigational techniques. Two of these contributors are historians, two of them are sea captains in the Western Pacific, and the fifth is a specialist in the capacities of Oceanic canoes. Unfortunately this symposium must have appeared after ‘Ancient Voyagers in Polynesia’ had gone to press, for the latter book does not mention it. A Complicated Problem The question at issue is an extremely complicated one, largely because it must be considered from so many points of view. All one can do in a brief review is to note that of the five reviewers who contribute to ‘Polynesian Navigation’, only one, Captain Hilder, fully accepts Sharp's hypothesis. The others all disagree with him on important points; one of the most interesting of them, the historian G. S. Parsonson, comments that Sharp's book, like earlier statements on accidental Polynesian voyages, ‘owes far more to the common sense of the plain wayfaring man, and to ancient prejudices which now seem deep-rooted in the European psyche, than it does to any genuine understanding of Oceanic life and culture, or to sound scholarship.’ However this may be, it is certain that the ambitious scope of Andrew Sharp's two books has constituted a challenge to other students of Pacific history, and has also done much to re-awaken a general interest in the subject. The fact that this distinguished panel of reviewers was assembled to consider his views is itself a tribute to the value of his work in these respects. Both Andrew Sharp and the contributors to ‘Polynesian Navigation’ write clearly and well, and the very fact that the evidence comes from so wide a field means that the general reader, whether or not he finally feels able to decide between the conflicting theories, will find the discussion of great interest. He will also have the pleasure which comes from watching a first-class scholarly fight in progress.