POLYNESIA 358 POLYNESIA
POLYNESIA. The Islands of the Pacific Ocean are referred to in the present
work only on account of a certain connection by language which exists between
them and the Malayan Archipelago. Their inhabitants may be divided into three
great classes—those of the islands of the Northern Pacific, the Sandwich group
excepted,—those of the islands extending west and east from the Tonga group to
Eastern Island, and north and south from the Sandwich to the New Zealand islands;
and those of the islands from New Guinea to the Fiji group, lying between the
equator and the southern tropic.
The first class are supposed to belong to the Malayan race of man, or to be the
same with the fairer inhabitants of the Malay and Philippine Archipelagos. The
tribes inhabiting these islands, however, seem to speak languages not only differing
from those of the Malayan nations, but also differing among themBelves. The second
class differ from the first in physical form, being a stout, athletic, handsome people
whose stature exceeds that of the Malayan race by at least three inches. They speak a
language which is essentially the same throughout, and differing in phonetic character,
grammatical structure and vocabulary from those of the first class of inhabitants, as
well as from all the languages of the Malay and Philippine Archipelagos. The third
class of inhabitants are negros, woolly-headed, in complexion dark but not black,
and of at least the average stature of the Malayan race. They differ, therefore, essentially
from the pigmy negros of the Malay Peninsula and of the Philippines, and may
be pronounced a peculiar and unique race of men. Their languages differ wholly from
those of the two first classes of inhabitants, and as far as our information extends, would
seem also to be entirely different among the different negro tribes themselves. From
the account now rendered of the geographical distributions of the three classes, it will
appear that they are not found territorially intermixed, as is the case in the Malay Peninsula
and the Philippines, with the fairer race and the negros. Even the larger islands
contain no intermixture. New Guinea is peopled only by negros, and New Zealand
only by what has been called the great Polynesian family. Negros are only to be found
south of the equator, and the islands of the Northern Pacific are, with the exception
of the Sandwich group, wholly occupied by what is believed to be the Malayan race.
In all the languages of the islands of the Pacific, whether of the negros or of the
fairer races, a small infusion of the Malayan languages is to be found, in the same
manner as we find words of Norman French in English, of Teutonic words in the
languages of the south of Europe; of Arabic in Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish and
Persian; of Persian in the languages of Hindustan, and of Sanscrit in Malay and
Javanese. The proportion of the Malayan ingredient in the languages of Polynesia
is smaller, however, than in any one of the cases now quoted in illustration, not
exceeding where it is largest above 200 words in 1000. I t exists in the languages
of the negros, equally as in those of the fairer races, although from greater barbarism
and stronger antipathy of race, not generally to the same degree.
The nature of the Malayan words introduced into the Polynesian languages is a
consideration of not less importance than the proportion in which they exist. The
most frequent class consists of the numerals, which are always imperfect as to the
number of them introduced, and always corrupted as to form. The South-Sea
islanders, both of the fair and negro races are in possession of one or all of these
domesticated animals, namely, the hog, the dog, and common fowl, but not one of
these, in any of the Polynesian tongues that have been examined, is known by a
Malayan name. So far then as language is good evidence, the Polynesian nations
are not indebted to the Malayan for them. Not so with cultivated plants: the
evidence of language shows, that the Polynesians have received from the Malay
nations the yam, the coco-palm, and the sugar-cane, for all these are known by names
which although greatly disfigured, are unquestionably Malayan. Some degree of
instruction received by the Polynesian from the Malayan nations is to be inferred
from the existence in their tongues of the following words which are of undoubted
Malayan origin,—thatch, plank, comb, adze, weapon-point, mesh of a net, ladder,
bow, year, and chieftain or lord.
This analysis reduces the advantages which the islanders of the Pacific have derived
from Malayan intercourse to a very inconsiderable amount. The Malayan nations
taught the islanders a convenient system of numeration; they introduced the culture
of the yam, the coco-nut, and the sugar-cane, and bestowed, perhaps, some rude
instruction in the mechanic arts. But they introduced no useful domestic animal,
nor corn, pulse, or cotton. They did not instruct the islanders in the fabrication of
iron, or in the manufacture of any textile fabric. Still less did they instruct them in
law, in letters, or in religion.
POMEGRANATE 359 PORCELANE
Bf lip a s iil^ il iliSsSl ¡11 S§f®
fiu as the Philippines, the Moluccas, and New Guinea, and, therefore to the very
a of fhA Polvnesian islands to the west. It is from this quarter that it is
natural to suppose that the Malayan words must have found their way into the
Polvnesian languages. The words certainly belong to these two languages, and it can be
Droved that they do. Thus in the 85 Malayan words existing m the Maori or language
of New Zealand, 18 are Malay and 10 Javanese, the remaining 57 belonging eq y
to these two tongues, while they do not contain a word of any other Ind^n langu^e.
The praus of the Malays and Javanese when at the eastern confines of the Arch
nelflB-o might seem at first sight, to have their further progress eastward arrested by
their voyage they would have the westerly monsoon m their favour, and in the
Pacific itself within a zone of about seven or eight degrees on each side of the
equator it is not trade winds but variable ones, blowing even more frequently fro
the west than the east, that prevail. By this track, then, Malayan praus might easily
enough penetrate a considerable way, among the islands of the Pacific. They mig
do so either through the Southern Philippines, the Moluccas or Torres Straits, and
most probably did so by all these channels. Were our vocabularies sufficiently
copious wemlght even be able to trace the progress of the Malayan nations among
the Polvnesian islands by the proportion of their languages found m the Polynesian
dialects. Thus, supposing that the Malayan nations entered the Pacific by the
Torres Straits leaving out the negro nations on account of ferocity and mcompatibili y
of race the first of the fairer people they would encounter would be the ^habitants
of the ToDga or Friendly Islands, and judging by the inadequate specimens of thei
language which we possess, it contains a far larger proportion of Malayan words than
the languages of the remote Marquesas, Sandwich and New Zealand islands, although
all be dSlects of the same tongue.—See Preliminary Dissertation to a Grammar and
Dictionary of the Malay language.
POMEGRANATE. (Punica Granatum.) The pomegranate is cultivated in the
Indian Mands as an ornamental plant, on account of its flowers, but bears a poor
fruit hardly esculent. It is, without doubt, an exotic, but when or by whom introduced
is unknown. I t bears notwithstanding a native name, dalima, which is also
that of “ the ruby.” The natives state that this word is derived from the numeral five,
lima in reference to the remains of the five segmented calyx on the top of the fruit.
This* opinion cff the origin of the name seems confirmed by that given to the tree in
the pohte language of Java, gangsalan, which is a translation of the vulgar name.
PONTTANAK or PONTIYANAK. This is the name of a Malay town and state
of the western coast of Borneo. The town lies on the left bank of the nver, usually
called by the same name, about 15 miles from its mouth The river, a navigable
one for vessels of moderate burden, is formed by the junction of two considerable
streams the Kapuwas and the Landak. The town is almost on the equator and m
east longitude 109° 10'. Pontianak is at present the chief place of the Netherland
administration of the Province of the west coast of Borneo, and contained in 1825,
S R f S S belonging to it, a population of 36,676, consisting of the following
elements Malays 8000, Dlyaka or wild tribes, 13,391, Chinese 17,693 Arabs and
the“ descendants 319, md Europeans 2273. The total population of the province
of which it is the head, was computed, at the same time, at 590,000, the majority
composed of the wild races.
PORCELANE and POTTERY. All the more civilised inhabitants of the Archipelago
have possessed immemorially the art of fabricating a coarse unglazed pottery,
much resembling that of the Hindus, but not borrowed from them, judging by the
native nameB connected with the art. For either pottery or porcelane there is no
common native term, but a great many names, to distinguish the vessel or utensil made
from them, these often varying in the different languages. A coarse domestic earthenware
is of much less general use among the islanders than the Hindus, its place being
frequently taken by the coarse porcelane of China, which has been imported for ages.
Fragments, or even entire vessels of it, have been found in ancient ruins m Java, an