CHAP. tlie island having been seen at daybreak “ far to w indw-ardand it
Feb.
1826.
"of lio overlooked that his latitude at Cumberland Island tlie
daj' before ivas eight miles in error the same w-ay, which makes it very
probable that either his observations were indifferent, or that he had
incorrect tables of declination.
In forming this conclusion, I am aware that I am depriving Captain
Duperrey of the merit of a discovery, but he will, it is hoped, admit the
justice of my opinion.
All the islands seen by Cook, YY"allis, and Carteret, lying within the
limit of our survey, have been found to be accurately described, excepting
tliat their size has always been overrated; a mistake very likely to
arise with low strips of land deficient in familiar objects to direct the
judgment where actual measurement was not resorted to.
The discoveries of Mr. Turnbull are so loosely related in his
entertaining Voyage, that their situation cannot he ascertained; and
unless some better clue to them is given, they will always be liable to be
claimed by subsequent navigators.
Of the thirty-two islands which have thus been visited in succession,
only twelve are inhabited, including Pitcairn Island, and the
amount of the population altogether cannot possibly exceed three
thousand one hundred souls; of which one thousand belong to the
Gambier groupe, and twelve hundred and sixty to Easter Island, leav-
ing eight hundred and forty persons only to occupy the other thirty
islands.
AU the natives apparently profess the same religion ; all speak the
same language, and are in all essential points the same people. There
is a great diversity of features and complexion between those inhabiting
the volcanic islands and the natives of the coral formations, the
former being a taller and fairer race. This change may be attributed
to a difference of food, habits, and comfort; the one having to seek a
daily subsistence upon the reefs, exposed to a burning sun and to the
painful glare of a white coral beach, while the other enjoys plentifully
the spontaneous produce of the earth, reposes beneath the genial shade
of palm or bread-fruit groves, and passes a life of comparative ease and
luxury.
It has hitlierto been a matter of conjecture liow these islands, so CHAF.
remote from both great continents, have received their aborigines. The ,__
intimate connexion between the language, worship, manners, customs, Feb.
and traditions of the people wlio dwell upon them, and those of
the Malays and other inhabitants of the great islands to the westward,
leaves no doubt of frequent emigrations from thence, and we
naturally look to those countries as the source from which they have
sprung. The difficulty, however, instantly presents itself of proceeding
so vast a distance in opposition to the prevailing wind and
current, without vessels better equipped than those wliich are in
possession of tliose people, 'i’his objection is so powerful in the
minds of some authors that they have had recourse to the circuitous
route through Tartary, across Beering’s Strait, and over the American
continent, to bring tliem to a situation whence they might be drifted
by the ordinary course of the winds to the lands in question. But liad
this been the case, a more intimate resemblance would surely be found
to exist between the American Indians and the natives of Bolynesia.
All have agreed as to the manner in which these migrations between
tlie islands have been effected, and some few instances have
actually been met with ; but they have been in one direction only, and
have ratlier favoured the opinion of migration from the eastward. The
accident wliich threw in our way Tuwarri and liis companions, wlio, it
may be recollected, were driven six hundred miles in a direction contrary
to the trade-wind in spite of their utmost exertions, has fortunately
enabled us to remove the objections which have been urged
against the general opinion. The fact being so well attested, and the
only one of the kind upon record, is, consequently, of tlie liighest interest,
botli as regards its singularity, and as it establishes the possibility
of tlie case. Tliougli tliis is tlie only instance that has come to our knowledge,
there is no reason wliy many other canoes may not have shared
a similar fate; and some few of many tlioiisands, perhaps, may have
drifted to the remotest islands of tlie archipelago, and tluis peopled tliem.
The navigation of canoes between islands in siglit of each otlior
w-as very general; and it was not unusual, in early times, ior warriors,
after a defeat, to embark, careless of consequences, in order to escape
B II