la place encore vacante. De là Cètte foule de nuances diverses
qui caractérisent les habitansde chaque archipel) sans
compter celles qui ont eu pour causes les climats, les habitudes,
le régime alimentaire, en un mot, toutes les' circonstances
dues aux diverses localités.”
M. d’Urville then proceeds to draw a very strong line‘between
what he terms two divisions; of the first*race, differing
in this respect from M. Lesson that he regards them as
separate branches of one stock, and not as entirely distinct
families». All the tribes^- he says, which occUp^ the islands
of the eastern Pacific, from Hawaii to New Zealand in one
direction, and from Tonga and Hamoa to*BâStër Island,' form
one family. The colour of the skin, the features of the
countenance, and the shape of the body have among these
tribes clearly marked resemblances,"and the 'jhngùâgë *of;the
several races is almost the sàme.1' ’> Other characteristics:
common to all these nations are the superstition of the Tabid,
the custom of drinking kava, and thé i p t o r ^ e of bo#S ané
arrows. They Were1 all governed by iégûlatêd ï instituas,ns)
and had among them numerous castes and privileged; Orders^’
a pompous religion with priests and solemn sacrifices.
The second division of the tawny race comprehendsï thé*
tribes who are spread through immense spaces occupying
the cluster called the Kingsmill islands, those of Gilbert^
Marshall, the Carolines, the Marian isles, and all the other
groupes as far as the Pelew Islands inclusively. v- « Ces insulaires
diffèrent principalement des Océaniens de l'orient pa¥
une couleur un peu moins foncée, par un visage plus effilé,
des yeux moins fendus, et des formes plus sveltes. Ils para
sent aussi étrangers au tapou (tabé). La langue varie
d’un archipel à l’autre, et diffère complètement de celle qui
est commune aux nations de l’autre division* Les seuls
sole foundation of this system of facts taken for granted is the discovery
m every part of the Indian Ocean of considerable diversity in physical
character, and of a lower caste, who approximate to, the description of the
aborigines. For this phenomenon a different explanation has been assigned,
as we have seen, by all English voyagers.
* On this-remark respecting the diversity of language M. d’Urville’s
expression imports more than is true, or at least more than has been established.
traita de conformité entre les deux divisions sont la distribution
de la ~s#iMdeen castes, l’absence de l’arc et des flèches
pour armes offensives, et l’usage, du kava sur quelques îles,
mais dans, celles de l’occident le kava est remplacé par le
betel et l’arek-.”*
These observations will suffice to make my readers iacquainted
with a disputed;, question coq^ieeted^iffi the Micros
nesiaa islanders, and the relations jbetween them and the
Polynesian > tribes»; L shall now proceed to the description
and history of the Mieronesians, and shall then return to the
inquiry regarding their nrigin and affinity to the Polynesians
withibetter: data for ia definite conclusion ,qn the subject.
ijPÇTion ll.-^General Survey. o f tke: Cmglim Archipelago.
The Caroli nq Arqhipelago has. been reqkonçd; by late writers
a*Sne3#eSidifîg from the Palaos or Pelew Islands eastward as
far as the chain of Radak, which is named in modern maps
the groupe of Marshall and Mulgrave Js^n<ls- , There seems
to be-no reason foç,excluding frprn it tbiUnxtepife^l^Uf^ of
thciTarawan or- Gilbert’s.Islands, which. is-alrnost.CoffiiwuQ118
with, that e f Padak. - By this widetoqftepfation ; of the term
theQaroline Archipelago will fee .made to .extend leagues,
from west? toeast. r In latitude:it will extend about 1 d Agréés
from, the northernmost qf the Radak isles to the southernmost
of the Tarawan groupe. ;
M. de Freycinet, who traversed th#0,paroline Archipelago
and spent a considerable time in the neighbouring groupe of
the Marian Islands, has-giyen us much valuable information
respecting the different i clusters which compose this archipelago,
Be has followed in his enumeration of these islands
the geographical division of Father Canto va, who arranged
the whole under six groupes* The later discoveries of the
Russian commander Lüfcké and other recent navigators, require
sème additièns to this dassificationv A connected Account of
f Npti.ce des Iles da Grand Océan lue à la Société Géographique de Paris
dans la Séanee du 5 Janv. 1832.