I.

_AMPHINESIANS._

_Physical Conformation._--Modified Mongolian. Complexion, different shades of brown or olive; rarely black. Hair black, and straight; rarely woolly; oftener (but not often) wavy and curling. Stature from about five feet three, to, perhaps, five feet ten.

_Languages._--Generally admitted to contain a certain proportion of Malay words.

_Area._--The Malayan Peninsula, the Indian Archipelago, Polynesia, Madagascar. (?)

_Chief Divisions._--1. The Protonesians. 2. The Polynesians. 3. The Malegasi.(?)

_PROTONESIAN BRANCH._

_Physical Conformation._--Colour---different shades of brown and yellow. Face, flat; nose, short; eyes and hair, black and straight; beard, scanty; stature, short. Frontal profile, retiring; maxillary, prognathic; occipito-frontal, brackykephalic; orbits, angular.

_Area._--Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Timor, Borneo, Celebes, the Moluccas, the Philippines, &c.

_Distribution._--With the exception of the Malayan Peninsula, insular. Islands, large as well as small.

_Religion._--Paganism, Hinduism, and Mahometanism.

_Social and Physical Development._--Maritime, commercial, and piratical; imperfect agriculture; never nomadic; partially industrial. Foreign Influences--Arabic and Hindu.

_MALACCA._

_Locality._--The extremity of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula.

_Population._--Mahometan Malays; Blacks of the Malay area; tribes of intermediate character, both physically and morally.

_Dates (real or supposed)._--The foundation of Singhapura (Sincapore) 1160 A.D. The foundation of Malacca, 1252 or 1260 A.D. The introduction of Mahometanism, 1276 A.D.

_Alphabet._--Arabic. Limited to the Mahometan Malays.

Respecting the Peninsula of Malacca, the most important point is the fact of its being the only continental occupation of any Malay nation. This so naturally suggests the notion of it also being the original country of the numerous and widely-dispersed Malay tribes, that any refinement upon the current doctrine seems, at the first view, out of place. Nevertheless, there is so much room for the question as to whether Sumatra was peopled from Malacca, or Malacca from Sumatra, the island from the peninsula, or the peninsula from the island, that the claims for Malacca to be considered as the birthplace of the Malays will stand over until the details of Sumatra have been considered.

Whatever, however, may be the case with the antiquity of the people, the language of the peninsula is the standard Malay. According to Leyden, it is spoken in the greatest purity in the states of Kedah, Perak, Salangore, Killung, Johore, Iringano, and Pahang. At Patani it becomes conterminous with the Siamese. The alphabet is Arabic: the literary influences are Arabic also; and the highest degree of antiquity that can be assigned to any proper Malay work is the epoch of the introduction of Mahometanism, _i.e._ the thirteenth century. In stating this, I by no means imply that any extant is thus old: I only imply that none is likely to be older.

The proper Malays themselves, however, are not only a new people in the peninsula, but they consider themselves as such. All the inhabitants older than themselves they call _Orang Benua_, or _men of the soil_.

I will first give the names of the particular tribes, and afterwards introduce the more general terms expressive of the class; premising that, as a general rule, the _Orang Benua_ population live apart from the Malays, are found more in the interior than on the coast, are darker complexioned, and are wilder in their manners.

_Halas._--Tattooed, inhabiting the interior of Perak.

_Jokong, Belandas, Besisik._--Somewhat shorter than the Malays, although like them. Hair black, often with a rusty tinge; sometimes lank, generally matted and curly, but not woolly. Eye brighter and more active than that of the Malay, with the internal angle but little depressed. Forehead low, not receding. Beard scanty. Legs sturdy. Chest broad. Nostrils diverging.

The Benuas are divided into tribes, each under an elder, called _Batin_, there being under each Batin two subordinates, a Jennang and a Jurokra. The punishments are bloody, murder being punished by drowning, impaling, and exposure to the sun; adultery also being punishable, under certain circumstances, with death.

In the inheritance of property the custom of primogeniture prevails.

The sun, moon, and stars receive much of their regard; perhaps worship. The two superior spirits of whom they have the most definite conceptions, are named Dewas and Bilun.

A spirit has his abode in the loftiest mountains. The priests, whose power is proportionate to the superstition of the natives, are called Poyangs. The soul of a Poyang after death is believed to enter into the body of a tiger. They are adepts in the magic arts of Besawye, Chinderwye, and Tuju; this last enables them to kill their enemies by the force of spells, however distant. The Besawye consists in burning incense, muttering spells, and invoking, by night, the spirit of the mountains.

Their food is the product of the hunt, not of agriculture.

_Udai._--The inhabitants of the forests of the _northern_ part of the peninsula.

_Semang._--The same. Complexion dark; hair curly and matted, but not frizzled. This is what Mr. Newbold relates; premising that he had no opportunity of personally judging. Mr. Anderson and Sir S. Raffles describe this darkness of complexion in stronger terms.

The Semang of Quedah has the woolly hair, protuberant belly, thick lips, black skin, flat nose, and receding forehead of the Papuan.

The Semang of Perak is somewhat less rude, and speaks a different dialect.

More than one Malay informed Mr. Newbold that the Semangs were essentially the same as the Jokong; having the same hair, but a somewhat blacker skin.

They live in rude moveable huts, constructed of leaves and branches, scantily clothed, and fed from the produce of the chase, at which they are expert. Their government is that of chiefs or elders. The Malays accuse them of only interring the head, and of eating the rest of the body, in cases of death.

They dip their weapons in blood when ratifying a solemn oath.

White is the favourite; perhaps, the holy colour.

They are fond of music, and have two native instruments--one like a violin, one like a flute.

They use the sumpitan, having three modes of preparing the poison.

Their dead are _buried_, sometimes in a sitting posture; generally with their arrows, sumpitan, and their most familiar utensils in the same grave.

The remaining aborigines belong to the southern parts of the peninsula.

_Rayet Laut_, or _Orang Akkye_.--Differing from the tribes last described, only in so far as they are residents of the sea-coast, not of the interior.

SUMATRA.

The divisions political rather than ethnological--the most important being the kingdom of Atchin, the Batta country, the kingdom of Menangkabaw, Rejang, Lampong, and Palembang.

ATCHIN.

_Locality._--The Northern or North-Western parts of Sumatra; conterminal with the Batta country.

_Religion._--Mahometan.

_Alphabet._--Arabic.

The Atchin stand apart from the other Sumatrans, from the extent to which the Arabs have modified them. The Atchin kingdom, which was powerful when first visited by the Portuguese, was of Arabic foundation, and it was through Atchin that the Mahometanism of the Mahometan Malays was propagated.

THE BATTAS.

_Locality._--South of the Atchin country, and nearly covering the northern third of Sumatra. Conterminous with the Atchin and Menangkabaw.

_Religion._--Mahometan.

_Alphabet._--Of Indian origin.

The Battas are somewhat shorter and fairer, than the other Sumatrans; polygamists; writing, according to Leyden, from the bottom of the page to the top; accredited cannibals.

MENANGKABAW.

_Locality._--The centre of Sumatra; the kingdom being at one time extended over almost the whole island.

_Religion._--Mahometan.

_Alphabet._--Arabic.

_Language._--Malay of Malacca, or nearly so.

In its widest extent, the kingdom of Menangkabaw is a political rather than an ethnographical division. To make it ethnographical, it must be limited. In this sense it is conterminous with Atchin and the Battas on the north, extended from east to west, across the whole island in (at least) some portions of it, in others, probably interrupted in certain mountain localities of the centre, and probably interrupted between the river Jambi and Palembang.

Politically speaking, the minor kingdoms of Indrapura, Anak-sungei, Siak, and Passamang, have grown out of the breaking up of the great Menangkabaw kingdom. At present, its pure and almost typical Malayan character--at least as far as resemblance in language to the Malay of Malacca is concerned--is all that will be noticed.

REJANG.--LAMPONG.

_Locality._--South Sumatra; conterminal with the Menangkabaw country and Palembang.

_Alphabets._--Of Indian origin.

Of all the Sumatrans, writes Marsden, the Lampongs have the strongest resemblance to the Chinese, particularly in the roundness of the face, and the form of the eye. They are the fairest people on the island, and the women are the tallest and best looking; they are also the most licentious. The Mahometanism of the Lampongs is imperfect; much of the old superstition remaining.

_The native Sumatran alphabets._--The alphabets of the Batta, Rejang, and Lampong tribes, are generally called _native_, although really of Indian origin. It can scarcely be said that they embody a literature; still their existence is an important fact. A Sumatran manuscript is made of the inner bark of a tree, prepared and made smooth, and cut into long strips of several feet in length. These are folded up afterwards so as to be square, when each square answers to the page of a book. For commoner purposes the outer rind of the bamboo is scratched with a style; often in a remarkably neat manner. The lines run from left to right, like the lines of the Hindus, and unlike those of the Arabs.

The preparation of the bark is to shave it smooth and thin, and then rub it over with rice-water.

The style is used for scratching bamboos. The pen is used for the more important writings on bark; this is a delicate twig, or the middle of some leaf. The ink is the root of the dammar pine, mixed with the juice of the sugar cane.

PALEMBANG.

_Locality._--North of Lampong, on the eastern side of the island.

_Religion._--Mahometan.

_Political relations._--Subject to Java; and in a great degree, a Javanese settlement.

The central parts of Sumatra are little known; the mountain chain, however, that runs from north to south in (about) 2° south latitude, has been visited by two Englishmen, Mr. C. Campbell and Lieutenant Dane. Their observations, which are to be found in Marsden's Sumatra,[50] apply to three elevated valleys--the Korinchi country, Serampei, and Sungei Tenang. I find in them no traces of any tribe different from those already mentioned in any important circumstance.

Just south of Sungei Tenang, and east of the Rejang country is Labun, a mountain district; whilst north of Palembang, and south of the River Jambi, on the eastern coast, is a flat country covered with wood and but thinly inhabited. Now, for those who look for the wildest varieties of the Sumatran tribes, these are the most likely localities. Accordingly, when Marsden made his inquiries as to the aborigines of the island, he heard of the Orang Gugu, and the Orang[51] Kubu.

Of these the Orang Gugu, from the parts about Labun, are the wildest and scarcest, being described as having their bodies covered with hair, and as being more _orang utan_ than human beings.

The Orang Kubu are said to be pretty numerous, belonging to the other district; _i.e._ the parts between the Jambi and Palembang. The worst that is said of these is, that they have a peculiar and unintelligible language, and that they feed indifferently on elephants, rhinoceroses, snakes, and monkeys.

A few small islands on the further side of Sumatra require notice.

_Enganho Island._--Natives described by Mr. Miller, in 1771, A.D., as taller and fairer than the Malays.

_Poggi Islanders, or people of Si Porah and Si Biru._--The manners of these people are those of the Battas, except that they are more rude; and that their custom of disposing of the dead is different. The Poggi Islanders deposit the corpse on a sort of stage in a place appropriated for the purpose, and strewing a few leaves over it, leave it to decay. Tattooing is common.

_The Pulo Batu, or Nias Islanders._--These are lighter in complexion and smaller in stature than the Malays. The custom of stretching the ears so as even to flap upon the shoulders, is general here. Every district, and there are upwards of fifty of them, is at war with its neighbour, and the export of slaves is the consequence.

_Orang Maruwi._--The small islands of Pulo Nako, close upon the western side of Nias, also Pulo Babi, and Pulo Baniak.--These are merely noticed for the sake of saying that their dialect is said to be unintelligible to the Nias and Poggi people, and that a minute distinction between them has been recognized.

We may now consider some of the moral attributes of the Malay race; and in doing this there is no better a division of the different forms of their civilization than the one indicated and illustrated by Dr. Prichard. The two areas which we have just considered--the peninsula of Malacca, and the Island of Sumatra--have sufficiently shown that there are, _at least_, two degrees in the civilization of their occupants.

The civilization of the kingdom of Atchin, and of the proper Mahometan Malays in general, is a _derived_ civilization, introduced by the conquerors, the traders, or the missionaries of Mahometan Arabia; in which we have a literature consisting, to a great extent, of annals, an Arabic alphabet, and no very prominent traces of any original paganism.

At any rate we have Mahometan culture as the result of Mahometan influence, the propagators having been Arabs.

The civilization of the Jokong, and of tribes still wilder, like those of Korinchi country, and other mountaineer districts both of the Peninsula and Sumatra, is the primitive civilization--such as it is--of the unmodified Malays. Without saying, that it is nowhere tinctured by Mahometan elements, it is still an indigenous, and an inferior culture. Hence, even without reckoning the Samangs as Malay, we have two types of moral character, and two types of social development--the Jokong type, or the type of the unmodified Malay, and the proper Malay type of the Mahometans of Malacca, Menangkabaw and Atchin.

But these two types are not the only ones. Savage as are the Battas, and nearly as they approach in this respect to the unmodified Malays, they exhibit signs of a second influence. Notwithstanding their imperfect Mahometanism, the influence alluded to is not Arabic. The same influence appears in the Rejang and Lampong Sumatrans as well. I allude to their alphabets. These are _Indian_ in origin.

For Sumatra, then, and Malacca, we have in different degrees of development--

1st. The original Malay civilization, if so it can be called.

2nd. The same as modified by Indian influences.

3rd. The same as modified by Arabic influences, engrafted, in some cases, perhaps, on the original Malay rudeness; but more frequently upon an Indian modification of it.

This order is chronological; _i.e._ the primitive stage was (of course) earlier than the Indian, and the Indian earlier than the Arabic.

Another principle of arrangement is the relation which the three developments bear to each other. In Malacca and Sumatra the Indian development is the most insignificant, the Mahometan the most important.

To observe how far the ratio between these types varies in different portions of the Malay area, is one of the chief points in our future investigations.

Dr. Prichard would study the three forms of Malay development in Sumatra, in Java, and in the Philippines. In Sumatra for the Mahometan aspect, in Java for the Indian, and in the Philippines for the phenomena of indigenous growth and progress. In the main, this view is a right one. A Philippine language, of all the Malay language, is the richest in inflections, perhaps also in vocables; and the Philippine civilization, as found by the first Spanish missionaries, was on a level with that of any other non-Mahometan or non-Indianized tribe. It was also essentially Malay. Marsden remarks upon the great similarity between the few facts known of the early Philippine Mythology and that of the Battas. So that thus far the Philippines are Malay; and Malay in its most _developed_ form; also in its more _indigenous_ form. Still they are not wholly Malay; at least their development is not wholly independent of extraneous influences. Though there is little about them Mahometan, their alphabet is _Indian_ in origin.

Borneo, perhaps, is the most unmodified Malay island of the Archipelago.

Hence, such remarks as require to be made upon the moral characteristics of the Malays in general, as well as the necessary notices of their manners and customs, must be taken from these two islands, as they are supplied by them respectively.

_The primitive mythology of the Battas._--One of the few and fragmentary accounts which we possess of any of the primitive creeds, is the following one of the Batta theology:--

"The inhabitants of this country have many fabulous stories, which shall be briefly mentioned. They acknowledge three deities as rulers of the world, who are respectively named, _Batara-guru_, _Sori-pada,_ and _Mangalla-bulang_. The first," say they, "bears rule in heaven, is the Father of all mankind, and partly, under the following circumstances, Creator of the earth; which from the beginning of time had been supported on the head of _Naga-padoha_; but growing weary at length, he shook his head, which occasioned the earth to sink, and nothing remained in the world excepting water. They do not pretend to a knowledge of the creation of this original earth and water; but say that at the period when the latter covered every thing, the chief deity, _Batara-guru_, had a daughter named _Puti-orla-bulan_, who requested permission to descend to these lower regions, and accordingly came down on a white owl, accompanied by a dog; but not being able, by reason of the waters, to continue there, her father let fall from heaven a lofty mountain, named _Bakarra_, now situated in the _Batta_ country, as a dwelling for his child; and from this mountain all other land gradually proceeded. The Earth was once more supported on the three horns of _Naga-padoha_; and that he might never again suffer it to fall off, _Batara-guru_ sent his son, named, _Layanglayangmandi_ (literally "the dipping swallow"), to bind him hand and foot. But to his occasionally shaking his head they ascribe the effect of earthquakes. _Puti-orla-bulan_ had afterwards, during her residence on earth, three sons and three daughters, from whom sprang the whole human race.

"The second of their deities has the rule of the air, betwixt earth and heaven; and the third that of the earth; but these two are considered as subordinate to the first. Besides these, they have as many inferior deities as there are sensible objects on earth, or circumstances in human society; of which some preside over the sea, others over rivers, over woods, over war, and the like. They believe, likewise, in four evil spirits, dwelling in four separate mountains; and whatever ill befalls them they attribute to the agency of one of these demons. On such occasions they apply to one of their cunning men, who has recourse to his art; and by cutting a lemon ascertains which of these has been the author of the mischief, and by what means the evil spirit may be propitiated; which always proves to be the sacrificing a buffalo, hog, goat, or whatever animal the wizard happens on that day to be most inclined to eat. When the address is made to any of the superior and beneficent deities for assistance, and the priest directs an offering of a horse, cow, dog, hog, or fowl, care must be taken that the animal to be sacrificed is entirely white.

"They have also a vague and confused idea of the immortality of the human soul, and of a future state of happiness or misery. They say that the soul of a dying person makes its escape through the nostrils, and is borne away by the wind; to heaven, if of a person who has led a good life; but if of an evil-doer, to a great cauldron, where it shall be exposed to fire until such time as _Batara-guru_ shall judge it to have suffered punishment proportioned to its sins; and feeling compassion shall take it to himself in heaven: that finally the time shall come when the chains and bands of _Naga-padoha_ shall be worn away, and he shall once more allow the earth to sink; that the sun will be then no more than a cubit's distance from it, and that the souls of those who, having lived well, shall remain alive at the last day, shall in like manner go to heaven, and those of the wicked be consigned to the before-mentioned cauldron, intensely heated by the near approach of the sun's rays, to be there tormented by a minister of _Batara-guru_, named _Suraya-guru_, until, having expiated their offences, they shall be thought worthy of reception into the heavenly regions."[52]

_Cannibalism._--Of all the tribes of the old world those of the Oceanic stock have most generally, and, I fear, most justly, been accused of cannibalism. For the sake, however, of giving the full benefit of any modified form of this horrible habit to nations that have been improperly charged with feeding on the flesh and blood of their fellow-creatures, it must be remembered that the simple fact of human flesh being tasted, does not constitute cannibalism--_i.e._, habitual cannibalism. It has been tasted by savage tribes under three different influences.

1. As a mark of honour--Sir Walter Raleigh writes of the Arawaks, that this was showing posthumous respect.

2. Don Ruy de Guzman, writes of the Charruas, that they were not cannibals; and what Don Ruy de Guzman states has not been definitely contradicted. Nevertheless, it has not been denied that after their discoverer and enemy, Solis, had been killed in war, his body was tasted, if not eaten. This, however, was exceptional; and was done, not for the gratification of appetite, but in the way of revenge. Charles II. disinterred the judges of his father on the same principle; that is, he did a thing against his own nature and against the usage of his compatriots, under a violent stimulus.

3. Human flesh is eaten, as _food_, in some cases under incipient famine only; in others, from absolute appetite, and with other food to choose from. This last is true cannibalism.

Of cannibalism so gratuitous as to come under the last of these categories, I know of no authentic cases: that is, I know of no case where the victim has been other than a captured enemy; but then I believe that the feast is one of the _certaminis gaudia_.

The evidence is, in my mind, in favour of the Battas of Sumatra being cannibals in the most gratuitous form in which the custom exists.

_Head-hunting_.--No trophy is more honourable, either among the Battas of Sumatra, or the Dyaks of Borneo, than a human head; the head of a conquered enemy. These are preserved in the houses as tokens; so that the number of skulls is a measure of the prowess of the possessor. In tribes, where this feeling becomes morbid, no young man can marry before he has presented his future bride with a human head, cut off by himself. Hence, for a marriage to take place, an enemy must be either found or made. To this subject I shall return when treating of Borneo.

_Running-a-muck._--A Malay (and with the exception of the old Berserks, of the heroic ages of Scandinavia, I know of no one else with whom the same is said to occur in an equal degree) is capable of so far working himself into fury, of so far yielding to some spontaneous impulse, or of so far exciting himself by stimulants, as to become totally regardless of what danger he exposes himself to. Hence, he rushes forth as an infuriated animal, and attacks all who fall in his way, until having expended his morbid fury he falls down exhausted. This is called _running-a-muck_. It is evidently, if real, a temporary form of maniacal excitement; but probably, so much under the control of the will, if strongly exerted, as to be capable of being either checked or guarded against; a so-called _uncontrollable impulse_, to which, if men yield in England, they are either hanged or locked up.

_Gambling._--This habit, or rather passion, is shared by the Malays, the Indians, the Chinese, and the Indo-Chinese; quail-fighting and cock-fighting being the forms in which it shows itself. A Malay will lose all his property on a favourite bird; and, having lost that, stake his family; and after the loss of wife and children, his own personal liberty: being prepared to serve as a slave in case of losing.

_Slavery_.--Although recognised by the Mahometan religion, and part and parcel of a social system like that of even the most advanced Malays, this, in its _worst_ forms, is less general than we are prepared to expect. Where there are savage tribes in the inland parts of large districts, and where there are small islands in the neighbourhood of large ones, where--in other words--the normal condition of society is a state of war, slavery exists, with a slave-trade superadded. In settled islands, however, like Celebes and Java, it is generally from debt, and the consequent forfeiture of personal liberty, that the supply arises. As such it is limited both in degree and severity.

_Maritime Habits_.--Nothing would be expected, _a priori_, more than that tribes like the Oceanic should be essentially nautical in their habits. Their insular position,--their wide dispersion equally indicate this. And such is the reality. With the exception of the Negrito portion, all the Oceanic islanders in contact with the ocean, are maritime in their tastes: many, indeed, of the Negritos are so. None, however, are more so than the natives of the Indian Archipelago; and, of these, the proper Malays are the most. The _Phœnicians of the East_ is a term that has been applied to them; and it has been applied justly. The primitive vessel is a _prahu_; a long canoe, rowed sometimes by fifty rowers. In the pirate localities this takes the form of junk with sails, netting, and brass guns. Of the piracy, however, of the Indian Archipelago, more will be said hereafter.

_Narcotic stimulants and masticatories._--Chewing the betel-nut is almost universal in some of the Malay countries; the use of opiates and tobacco being also common.

The nut of the _Areca catechu_, is wrapped in the leaf of the _piper betel_, the first being astringent, the second pungent. The addition of lime completes the preparation. This stimulates the salivary glands, tinges the saliva red, and discolours the teeth.

_Bodily disfigurations under the idea of ornament._--Of the well-known stories of the little pinched-up feet of Chinese women I said nothing; waiting until I came to a ruder stage of society, before I noticed any of those numerous imaginary improvements upon the human form, which are almost invariably found amongst the lower tribes of our species. The Malay dress is becoming; but the Malay habit of permanently disfiguring parts of the body under the idea of ornament, is of sufficient prominence to take place amongst the characteristics of the branch.

_a._ _Tattooing._--This is sometimes limited, sometimes general: sometimes over the whole body, sometimes confined to the arms only. In Africa the patterns vary with the tribe. In certain Malay districts, an approach to this distinction may be found; for instance, we hear in Borneo of some tribes that always tattoo, of others that partially tattoo, of others that do not tattoo at all. Nay more; the habit of tattooing seems in some cases to go along with certain other habits--by no means naturally connected with it. Thus certain of the Borneo non-tattooed tribes never use the _Sumpitan_, or blowpipe; whilst others are tattooed, and use it. So at least Sir J. Brooke was informed; although I think the careful peruser of his journal will find that the coincidence is not always complete.

_b._ _Depilation._--Malay, but continental as well.--Depilation is effected either by quick-lime or tweezers. Generally, I believe, the parts of the body which are meant to be kept smooth are rubbed with quick-lime; and the isolated hairs that afterwards appear, are plucked out carefully by tweezers in detail.

_c._ _Filing the teeth, dyeing the teeth._--A Malay habit. There are not less than three varieties of this operation.

1. Sometimes the enamel, and no more, is filed off. This enables the tooth to receive and retain its appropriate dye.

2. Sometimes the teeth are merely pointed.

3. Sometimes they are filed down to the gums. This is the case with many of the Sumatran women of Lampong.[53]

It may be doubted whether this last be wholly due to the process of filing down.

Dyeing may follow filing, or not, as the case may be.

In Sumatra, where a jetty blackness is aimed at, the empyreumatic oil of the cocoa-nut is used. Even, however, if no dyeing follow, the teeth will become black from the simple filing, if the chewing of the betel-nut be habitual.

_d._ _Distension of the ears._--Many of the tribes that file their teeth, also distend their ears. Both are Malay habits. In some parts of Sumatra, when the child is young, the ear is bored, and rings are put in. Here the process stops in England, and the civilized world. In other parts, however, the rings are weighted, so as to pull down the lobe; or ornaments, gradually increased in diameter, are inserted; so that the perforation becomes enlarged.

Simple perforation may extend to a mere multiplication of the holes of the ear. In Borneo, the Sakarran tribes wear more earrings than one, and are distinguished accordingly; "when you meet a man with many rings distrust him" being one of their cautions. Mr. Brooke met a Sakarran with twelve rings in his ear.

_e._ _Growth of the nails._--In Borneo, the right thumb-nail is encouraged to grow to a great length. So it is in parts of the Philippines.

Such are some of the more prominent Malay customs, others will present themselves, as other islands come under notice.

_Was Sumatra or Malacca the original country of the Malays?_--The _primâ facie_ is in favour of the island having been peopled from the continent.

The traditions, perhaps, indeed, the _histories_ of the Mahometan Malays complicate this view. According to the earliest accounts, Malacca and Singhapura were built by settlers from Menangkabaw. The two commonest accounts of the Mahometan Malaccan settlement, although disagreeing in certain details, agree in this. In _one_ sense then, at least, Sumatra is probably the parent state: it is probably the quarter from which the more civilized Malays of the coast invaded Malacca; and, if so, is also the earlier civilized locality. But this may be the case, without invalidating the _primâ facie_ evidence in favour of the continent being the birthplace of the stock. The Malays of the Jokong type have never been derived from Sumatra; on the contrary, it is very probable that the earliest Sumatrans were offsets from Malacca.

At any rate, the Malaccan origin of the earlier Sumatrans, and the Sumatran origin of the later Malaccans, are perfectly compatible doctrines.

As to the presumed date of the Malaccan settlements, it has already been placed in the thirteenth century. Whether this be an historical fact or not, it is certain that when Marco Polo, anterior to any Portuguese voyager, visited Sumatra, and described it under the name of _Java Minor_, the kingdom of Atchin, at least, was powerful, flourishing, and Mahometan.

JAVA.

_Languages._--1. Sunda, spoken by one tenth of the population, and limited to the western side of the island.

2. Javan proper, falling into

_a._ The Archaic dialect. _b._ The Court dialect. _c._ The popular dialect.

Culture of Indian origin; which, after attaining its full development, was replaced by Mahometanism, is the leading fact in the ethnography of Java.

Or--changing the expression--of the three forms of development the proper Malay, the Indian, and the Arabic, it is the _second_ which is paramount in Java.

The details of its displacement by Mahometanism are historical rather than ethnological. Neither are they well ascertained even as historical facts. The date, however, is some part of the fifteenth century.

So exclusively have the Indian elements of the Javanese history and archæology riveted the attention of scholars, that the Mahometan influence on one side, and the remains of the primitive Malay development, have been thrown in the back ground.

The Indian elements still extant, are referable to the three following heads. 1. Language. 2. Literature. 3. Art.

1. _Language._--Notice has been taken of the existence in Java of a _court_ dialect, the _Bhasa Krama_ or _Bhasa Bhilem_. This, perhaps, is a phenomenon more redolent of Hindostan, than of the proper Malay kingdoms. The _Bhasa krama_, however, is by no means the preeminently Indianized portion of the Javanese language. The _Archaic_ Javanese is the famous _Kawi_ language. The Kawi language was described by Sir Stamford Raffles as Sanskrit, that had taken a Javanese form in respect to its grammar; and it is from the notices of Raffles and Crawford that the details of the Kawi language were first made known. This view has been reversed by Wilhelm von Humboldt. His great work on the Kawi language supplies reasons for considering the Kawi, as ancient Javanese, loaded with Sanskrit vocables.

2. _Literature._--The Kawi language, an Indianized archaic, or poetical dialect, is the vehicle for that portion of the older Javanese literature which is most based upon Sanskrit models. The great poem in Kawi is the _Bhrata Yuddha_, an imitation of the Mahabharata. The Javanese annals, whether in Kawi, or Javan, in all probability deserve the low opinion that Mr. Crawford entertains of them; as there is no department in literature where a Sanskrit model would be more out of place, than for historical composition.

3. _Remains of ancient art._--Palaces, tombs, images of Hindu gods, are all numerous in Java, and all evidence of a previous Hinduism. Some of the inscriptions are not only Kawi, but Sanskrit.

To these may be added, the still living witnesses to the original Hindu worship. The Bédui of Bantam, and the people of the Teng'ger mountains still retain it, although in a corrupted form. Of the latter, the following is a description taken from Sir S. Raffles' _History of Java_.

"To the eastward of _Surabáya_, and on the range of hills connected with _Gúnung Dasar_, and lying partly in the district of _Pasúruan_, and partly in that of _Probolingo_, known by the name of the _Teng'ger_ mountain, we find the remnant of a people still following the Hindu worship, who merit attention, not only on account of their being (if we except the _Bédui_ of _Bantam_) the sole depositaries of the rites and doctrines of that religion existing at this day on Java, but as exhibiting an interesting singularity and simplicity of character.

"These people occupy about forty villages, scattered along this range of hills, in the neighbourhood of what is termed the Sandy Sea. The site of their villages, as well as the construction of their houses, is peculiar, and differ entirely from what is elsewhere observed on Java. They are not shaded by trees but built on spacious open terraces, rising one above the other, each house occupying a terrace, and being in length from thirty to seventy, and even eighty feet. The door is invariably in one corner, at the end of the building, opposite to that in which the fire-place is built. The building appears to be constructed with the ordinary roof, having along the front an enclosed veranda or gallery, about eight feet broad. The fire-place is built of brick, and is so highly venerated that it is considered a sacrilege for any stranger to touch it. Across the upper part of the building rafters are run, so as to form a kind of attic story, in which are deposited the most valuable property and implements of husbandry.

"The head of the village takes the title of _Peting'gi_, as in the low-lands, and is generally assisted by a _Kabâyan_, both elected by the people from their own village. There are four priests who are here termed _Dúkuns_ (a term elsewhere only applied to doctors and midwives), having charge of the state records and the sacred books.

"These _Dúkuns_, who are in general intelligent men, can give no account of the era when they were first established on these hills; they can produce no traditional history of their origin, whence they came, or who entrusted them with the sacred books, to the faith contained in which they still adhere. These, they concur in stating, were handed down to them by their fathers, to whose hereditary office of preserving them they have succeeded. The sole duty required of them is again to hand them down in safety to their children, and to perform the _púja_ (praisegiving), according to the directions they contain. These records consist of three compositions, written on the _lontar_-leaf detailing the origin of the world, disclosing the attributes of the Deity, and prescribing the forms of worship to be observed on different occasions. When a woman is delivered of her first child, the _Dúkun_ takes a leaf of the _alang_ grass, and scraping the skin of the hands of the mother and her infant, as well as the ground, pronounces a short benediction.

"When a marriage is agreed upon, the bride and bridegroom being brought before the _Dúkun_ within the house, in the first place bow with respect towards the south, then to the fire-place, then to the earth, and lastly, on looking up to the upper story of the house where the implements of husbandry are placed. The parties then, submissively bowing to the _Dúkun_, he repeats a prayer, commencing with the words, '_Hong! kendága Bráma ang'-gas siwang'ga ána ma siwáha sangyang g'ni sira kang_,' &c.; while the bride washes the feet of the bridegroom. At the conclusion of this ceremony, the friends and family of the parties make presents to each of krises, buffaloes, implements of husbandry, &c.; in return for which the bride and bridegroom respectfully present them with betel-leaf.

"At the marriage-feast which ensues, the _Dúkun_ repeats two _púja_. The marriage is not, however, consummated till the fifth day after the above ceremony. This interval between the solemnities and the consummation of marriage is termed by them _úndang mántu_; and is in some cases still observed by the Javans in other parts of the island, under the name, _únduh mántu_.

"At the interment of an inhabitant of _Teng'ger_ the corpse is lowered into the grave with the head placed towards the south (contrary to the direction observed by the Mahometans), and is guarded from the immediate contact of the earth by a covering of bambus and planks. When the grave is closed, two posts are planted over the body: one erected perpendicularly on the breast, the other on the lower part of the belly; and between them is placed a hollowed bambu in an inverted position, into which, during seven successive days, they daily pour a vessel of pure water, laying beside the bambu two dishes, also daily replenished with eatables. At the expiration of the seventh day, the feast of the dead is announced, and the relations and friends of the deceased assemble to be present at the ceremony, and to partake of entertainments conducted in the following manner:

"A figure of about half a cubit high, representing the human form, made of leaves and ornamented with variegated flowers, is prepared and placed in a conspicuous situation, supported round the body by the clothes of the deceased. The _Dúkun_ then places in front of the garland an incense-pot with burning ashes, together with a vessel containing water, and repeats the two _púja_ to fire and water; the former commencing with, '_Hong! Kendága Bráma gangsi wang'ga ya nama siwáha_," &c.; the latter with, "_Hong! hong gang'ga máha tirta ráta mejil saking háti_, &c.; burning _dúpa_, or incense, at stated periods during the former; and occasionally sprinkling the water over the feast during the repetition of the latter.

"The clothes of the deceased are then divided among the relatives and friends; the garland is burned; another _púja_, commencing with, "_Hong! áwigna mastúna ma sidam, hong! aráning_," &c., is repeated; while the remains of the sacred water are sprinkled over the feast. The parties now sit down to the enjoyment of it, invoking a blessing from the Almighty on themselves, their houses, and their lands. No more solemnities are observed till the expiration of a thousand days; when, if the memory of the deceased is beloved and cherished, the ceremony and feast are repeated; if otherwise, no further notice is taken of him: and having thus obtained what the Romans call his _justa_, he is allowed to be forgotten.

"Being questioned regarding the tenets of their religion, they replied that they believed in a _Déwa_, who was all-powerful; that the name by which the _Déwa_ was designated was _Búmi Trúka Sáng'yáng Dewáta Bátur_, and that the particulars of their worship were contained in a

## book called _Pángláwu_, which they presented to me.

"On being questioned regarding the _ádat_ against adultery, theft, and other crimes, their reply was unanimous and ready--that crimes of this kind were unknown to them, and that consequently no punishment was fixed, either by law or custom; that if a man did wrong, the head of the village chid him for it, the reproach of which was always sufficient punishment for a man of _Teng'ger_. This account of their moral character is fully confirmed by the Regents of the districts, under whose authority they are placed, and also by the residents. They, in fact, seem to be almost without crime, and are universally peaceable, orderly, honest, industrious, and happy. They are unacquainted with the vice of gambling and the use of opium.

"The aggregate population is about twelve hundred souls; and they occupy, without exception, the most beautifully rich and romantic spots on Java; a region in which the thermometer is frequently as low as forty-two. The summits and slopes of the hills are covered with Alpine firs, and plants common to an European climate flourish in luxuriance.

"Their language does not differ much from the Javan of the present day, though more gutturally pronounced. Upon a comparison of about a hundred words with the Javan vernacular two only were found to differ. They do not marry or intermix with the people of the low-lands, priding themselves on their independence and purity in this respect."

BALI.

As in Java, the people of Bali took a civilization from India. Unlike the Javanese, they have retained it to the present day.

SUMBAWA, ENDÉ, OMBAY.

At Bali and Java, the type is unequivocally Malay. At Timor it is Malay also, but altered. The Timorians are considerably darker than the Javanese; their features are coarser, their lips are sometimes thick, and their hair often frizzy. In the islands between, occur numerous transitional forms; both in feature and language.

In respect to this last, the islands at the head of this section afford three remarkable vocabularies. 1. The Timbora, from a district of Sumbawa; 2. The Mangarei, from a part of Endé, or Floris; 3. The Ombay, from the island so called; the inhabitants of which are described by Arago as black cannibals with flattened noses and thickened lips.

In each of these vocabularies, Malay words form the greater proportion. In each of them, however, are also found Australian vocables.

The following, from the three _very short_ vocabularies of these three languages, are what I published in the Appendix to Mr. Jukes' Voyage of the _Fly_.

1. Arm=_ibarana_, Ombay; _porene_, Pine Gorine dialect of Australia.

2. Hand=_ouine_, Ombay; _hingue_, New Caledonia.

3. Nose=_imouni_, Ombay; _maninya_, _mandeg_, _mandeinne_, New Caledonia; _mena_, Van Diemen's Land, western dialect: _mini_, Mangarei: _meoun_, _muidge_, _mugui_, Macquarie Harbour.

4. Head=_imocila_, Ombay; _moos_ (= hair), Darnley Island; _moochi_ (= hair), Massied; _immoos_ (= beard), Darnley Islands; _eeta moochi_, (= beard) Massied.

5. Knee=_icici-bouka_, Ombay; _bowka_, _boulkay_ (= forefinger), Darnley Islands.

6. Leg=_iraka_, Ombay; _horag-nata_, Jhongworong dialect of the Australian.

7. Bosom=_ami_, Ombay; _naem_, Darnley Island.

8. Thigh=_itena_, Ombay; _tinna-mook_ (= foot), Wioutro dialect of Australian. The root, _tin_, is very general throughout Australia in the sense of _foot_.

9. Belly=_te-kap-ana_, Ombay; _coopoi_ (= navel), Darnley Island.

10. Stars=_ipi-berre_, Mangarei; _bering_, _birrong_, Sydney.

11. Hand=_tanaraga_, Mangarei; _taintu_, Timbora; _tamira_, Sydney.

12. Head=_jahé_, Mangarei; _chow_, King George's Sound.

13. Stars=_kingkong_, Timbora; _chindy_, King George's Sound, Australia.

14. Moon=_mang'ong_, Timbora; _meuc_, King George's Sound.

15. Sun=_ingkong_, Timbora; _coing_, Sydney.

16. Blood=_kero_, Timbora; _gnoorong_, Cowagary dialect of Australia.

17. Head=_kokore_, Timbora; _gogorrah_, Cowagary.

18. Fish=_appi_, Mangarei; _wapi_, Darnley Island.

It is considered, that this list, short as it, is calculated to contract the broad line of demarcation, implied in the following extract from Marsden:--

"We have rarely met with any Negrito language, in which many corrupt Polynesian words might not be detected. In those of New Holland or Australia, such a mixture is not found. Among them no foreign terms that connect them with the languages, even of other _Papua_ or Negrito countries, can be discovered; with regard to the physical qualities of the natives, it is nearly superfluous to state, that they are Negritos of the most decided class."

TIMOR.

The multiplicity of languages, or dialects, spoken on the island Timor, has been noticed by most voyagers. Some have put the mutually unintelligible forms of speech as high as thirty. Unfortunately the details of this variety are not known. Such Timor vocabularies as we possess, represent the language of Koepang; the locality where the contact with the trading world both of the East and West, is greatest, _i.e._, with the Dutch and with the Malays. This makes the language Malay--though less Malay than the Malay of Sumatra, Celebes, and Borneo; the points wherein it differs being, frequently, points wherein it agrees with the Bima, Savu, and Endé, and other intermediate islands. Nevertheless, it is highly probable that the Timor of Koepang no more exactly represents the languages of some of the wilder mountaineers of the interior, than the Malay of Kedah exactly represents the languages of the Samang or Jokong.

When the wilder inhabitants are represented at all, they are represented as approaching the character of the Negro.

On the other hand some are fairer than the generality. Both these are phenomena that we have either seen before, or shall see in the sequel--in the Samang of Malacca, and the Dyaks of Borneo, as well as in Durville's Arafuras of Celebes.

In one particular village, near the north-eastern extremity, Mr. Earle found red hair, a specimen of which was in the possession of Dr. Prichard. In noting this, we must also note the habit of colouring the hair, which will be shown in the sequel to be a Papua custom.

Curly hair also was met with by the same observer; and so was coarse bushy hair; those tribes where it was found being the tribes that suffered from the oppression of the others, and which supplied them with slaves.

TIMOR LAUT.

From an English sailor who lived sometime in Timor Laut as a prisoner and a slave, I had the opportunity of collecting a few facts concerning Timor Laut, or _Timor of the Sea_. The numerals, which was all he knew of the language, were Malay. The people he described as dark, but not so dark as some of the slaves, whom they were in the habit of either purchasing or stealing. He knew of no second race, nor of any second language in the island.

THE SERWATTY AND KI ISLANDS.

For the Serwatty and Ki Islands, the best, indeed, nearly the only information, is to be collected from the voyage of the _Durga_, and from subsequent observations by Mr. Earle, the translator of the Voyage, and himself an independent investigator. Here, with one exception, the personal appearance was that of the Javanese and Bugis.

The language throughout, which was particularly investigated, is Oceanic, _i.e._, approaching the Malay or the Polynesian. The Kissa dialect, the one best known in detail, exhibited some letter-changes, which will be found frequent in the Polynesian, viz., _h_ for _s_, _k_ for _t_, _w_ for _b_, along with the ejection of the final _ng_.

ENGLISH. KISSA. BUGIS.

_Stone_ wahku bahtu. _Heavy_ werek beret. _Heart_ akin ati. _Dead_ maki mati. _Slave_ ahka ata. _Yam_ ubi uwi. _Feather_ huhu bulu. _Milk_ huhu susu. _Hard_ kereh keres.[54]

MOA.

Moa is one of the Serwatty group; and it forms the exception just noticed. In Moa, and in Moa alone, did Mr. Earle find the coarse bushy hair, the dark complexion, and the muddy sclerotica that suggested the idea of a Papua[55] intermixture. The Moa people are oppressed and kidnapped by the natives of the neighbouring island of Letti.

Subsequent enquiry showed that they had migrated from the south side of Timor.

THE ARRU ISLES.

Like the last, the Arru Isles are known to us, from the voyage of the _Durga_, and Mr. Earle's notices. He especially excepts them from the category of the Ki and Serwatty groups. In the Arru Islands, he recognised Papua characters, and refers them to Papua intermixture. In the southern part of the group this is most conspicuous.

Timor, and the Arru Islands bring us to Australia, and New Guinea, parts of Kelænonesia, or true Negrito areas. How far the transition from the Oceanic tribes of the Protonesian to the Oceanic tribes of the Negrito type, both in the way of language and physical conformation, is abrupt or gradual, is to be studied in the islands last enumerated. At present we will return to Java, and follow the Malay population in a different direction, _i.e._ from south to north, rather than from east to west.

BORNEO.

Of all the portions of the Indian Archipelago, the vast island of Borneo, the greatest in the world after Australia, and lying under the Equator, presents us with the Malay development on the largest scale.

In the exceeding paucity of the elements of Indian culture it stands in remarkable opposition to Java, and even to Celebes and the Philippines, whilst the Mahometan influences are extended but little beyond the large towns and the coast. Hence the central parts are Malay in the most unmodified form; even as the Batta districts of Sumatra are Malay.

Our knowledge, however, has by no means been proportionate to the number and variety of facts capable of being elicited. Indeed, with the exception of New Guinea, Central Africa, and parts of South America, Borneo has been, to the ethnologist, the darkest area in the world. That there were Mahometan Malays in the towns, that there were pirates on the coast, and that there were _Dyaks_ in the interior has, until lately, been the sum of our information. As far as it goes this is true. In addition, however, there has been (and continues to be) a belief in the existence of _Blacks_ in the more inaccessible parts of the mountains, especially the Kenebalow range.

As to the vocabularies, scanty as they were (and are), they have always been sufficient to prove a Malay origin, for such tribes as they represented. Whether, however, the population was homogeneous throughout, or whether there was a second (so-called) race, analogous to the Samangs of Malacca was uncertain.

The publication of the observations of the Rajah of Sarawak, and of his visitors, has dispelled much darkness. Still the light is imperfect; or, rather, it is partial. What we now know we know in detail, and on authoritative evidence; our knowledge being, chiefly, for the north-western coast, from Pontianak, on the Equator, to the parts round the Kenebalow mountain on the northern extremity of the island.

I shall just give so much of Sir J. Brooke's observations as bear upon those points wherein the ethnology of Borneo either explains or differs from that of Sumatra.

The Borneo equivalents to the Battas of Sumatra are the Dyaks; a term applied by the Mahometan Malays to the non-Mahometan portion of the population. The utter absence of an alphabet is the first point of distinction. The _comparative_ absence of a Hindoo mythology is the second. Fragmentary and distorted as is the Hindu Pantheon in Sumatra, it has had still less influence in Borneo. However, it exists in the terms _Jowata_ and _Battara_ (at least), and in certain _real_ elements of the Dyak creed as well. These names are connected with the cosmogony--when Jowata took the earth in both hands, and the right handful became man, the left, woman. Below the earth is Sabyan; where the houses are fitted up with moskito curtains, and where there are other creature-comforts besides. Euhemeristic elements are superadded. The memory of great chieftains is held in superstitious reverence; Beadum being one of them. Numerous details in the way of superstitions, regarding charms and omens, and the ceremonies attendant upon births, deaths, and marriages, fill up the picture of the paganism of Borneo. I am not aware, however, that any of them, curious as they are, are of sufficient importance to indicate either new ethnological affinities in respect to the tribes that adopt them, or to induce us to refine upon old ones. Indeed, the customs, as between tribe and tribe, are far from being uniform; as, for instance, in regard to the burial of the dead. Some burn the corpse, but without any ceremonies. Others place it in a light coffin, suspended on the bough of a tree, and so leave it. In some cases the forms are few or none. In others they are preeminently elaborate.

As a mark of distinction between different tribes, two customs take a prominent place: the habit of tattooing, and the use of the sumpitan.

The first is either general, or limited to certain parts of the body. In some tribes it is not adopted at all.

The second is a pipe, about five feet long; with an arrow made of wood; thin, light, sharp-pointed, and dipped in the poison of the upas-tree. As this is fugacious, the points are generally dipped afresh when wanted. At least five arrows can be discharged in the time required for loading and firing a musket. For about twenty yards the aim is so true, that no two arrows shot at the same mark will be above an inch or two apart. The utmost range is one hundred yards. The poison is virulent, but not deadly.

In many cases the use of the sumpitan (which is by no means universal) and the habit of tattooing go together.

Numerous other _differentiæ_, equally important (or unimportant), may be collected from any of the recent works on Borneo.

_Head-hunting._--This is one of the Malay habits, which is better studied in Borneo than elsewhere. The earliest writers describe the Dyaks as being cannibals, and something more; as being hunters of their kind, not merely for the sake of an unnatural feast, but simply for the sake of collecting heads as articles of _virtù_. Something of this sort, in the way of gratuitous bloodshed, we have seen in Sumatra, and something of the sort we shall find in the Philippines, and (I fear) elsewhere also.

In Borneo it is one of the essential elements of courtship. Before a youth can marry he must lay at the feet of his bride elect, the head of some one belonging to another tribe, killed by himself. According, then, to theory, every marriage involves a murder. I believe, however, that the practice is less general than the theory demands. Still a morbid passion for the possession of human heads is a trait of the Dyak character. Skulls are the commonest ornaments of a Dyak house, and the possession of them the best _primâ facie_ evidence of manly courage.

There is, then, a continual cause of bloodshed on land, and there is piracy by sea; the northern parts of Borneo, and the Sulu Archipelago, being the chief seats of the latter. Indeed the corsairs that give a dangerous character to the Indian Archipelago are almost all from these parts.

These two forms of warfare, the chronic state of hostility for the parts inland, and the system of robbery on the high seas, supply some of the elements of an explanation of the system just noticed; to which may be added the division of the population into a multiplicity of distinct tribes. Still, it is so good a rule to receive with scepticism all accounts that violate the common feelings of human nature, that I allow myself to believe that causes, as yet imperfectly understood, modify and diminish a practice so horrible as the one in question. That it should be so general as the theory demands is incompatible with the proportions between the male and female population, which are much the same in Borneo as elsewhere. So it is, also, with the express statement of Sir J. Brooke, who says, that the passion for heads has much diminished amongst certain of the Sarawak tribes. In one case, an offer of some was refused; the reason alleged being that it would revive fresh sorrows. The parties who thus declined, gave a favourable account of some of the customs by which the horrors of a Dyak war were abated:--

"If one tribe claimed a debt of another, it was always demanded, and the claim discussed. If payment was refused, the claimants departed, telling the others to listen to their birds, as they might expect an attack. Even after this, it was often the case, that a tribe friendly to each mediated between them, and endeavoured to make a settlement of their contending claims. If they failed, the tribes were then at war. Recently, however, Parimban has attacked without due notice, and often by treachery, and the Sow Dyaks, as well as the Singè, practise the same treachery. The old custom likewise was, that no house should be set on fire, no paddy destroyed, and that _a naked woman_ could not be killed, nor a woman with child. These laudable and praiseworthy customs have fallen into disuse, yet they give a pleasing picture of Dyak character, and relieve, by a touch of humanity, the otherwise barbarous nature of their warfare.

"_Babukid, bubukkid, or mode of defiance._--I have before mentioned this practice of defiance, and I since find it is appealed to as a final judgment in disputes about property, and usually occurs in families when the right to land and fruit-trees comes to be discussed. Each party then sallies forth in search of _a head_; if one only succeed, his claim is acknowledged; if both succeed, the property continues common to both. It is on these occasions that the Dyaks are dangerous; and perhaps an European, whose inheritance depended on the issue, would not be very scrupulous as to the means of success. It must be understood, however, that the individuals do not go alone, but a party accompanies each, or they may send a party without being present. The loss of life is not heavy from this cause, and it is chiefly resorted to by the Singè and Sows, and is about as rational as our trials by combat."

This babukid must be a check of a permanent sort.

_Houses._--With certain of the Dyak tribes the houses are not huts, nor yet mere dwelling-houses of ordinary dimensions. They hold from one hundred to two hundred persons each; and are raised above the ground on piles. This form of domestic architecture is important in itself; and it is also important, because it appears again in New Guinea, and has already been found in Java.

The conclusion which we come to from our present _data_ in respect to Borneo is, that the whole population is Malay, in the way that the Sumatran population is Malay; _i.e._ within comparatively narrow limits.

_a._ There is no tribe so different from the Mahometan Malays as the Samang are from the Malays of Malacca.

_b._ Still less is there any representative of a lower form of humanity; such as the fabulous Orang Gugu and Orang Cúbu of Sumatra are said to be; although, as in Sumatra, there are reports of the kind.

The tribes described by Mr. Brooke are chiefly the Lundu, Sakarran, the Sarebas, the Suntah, Sow, Sibnow, Meri, Millanow, and Kayan; also the Bajow, or Sea-Gipsies, who live as wanderers (pilots or pirates, as the case may be) on the ocean, and are found on Borneo, the Sulu islands, Celebes, and elsewhere.

The vocabularies given by Sir J. Brooke are--1. the Suntah; 2. Sow; 3. Sibnow; 4. Sakarran; 5. Meri; 6. Millanow; 7. Malo; 8. Kayan. These last are extended very nearly to the centre of the island.

In the way of intermixture, the nations that are most in contact with the Borneans, especially the Mahometan Malays, are the Arabs and Chinese.

CELEBES.

_Languages or dialects._--_a._ The Bugis.[56] _b._ The Macassar. _c._ The Mandhar. _d._ The Harafura of Durville (Qu. the Turaja of Crawfurd and Raffles).

_Alphabet of the Bugis._--Like, but probably formed independently of the Tagala alphabet of the Philippines; Sanskrit in origin.

Although the Mandhar and Macassar languages, or dialects, are less developed as the instruments of literature than the Bugis, and although the area over which they are spoken is less, whilst their commercial importance is inconsiderable, there is no reason to believe that they represent a civilization different in _kind_ from that of the Bugis.

This is not the case with the fourth dialect. I have called it the Harafura of Durville, because the only vocabulary known to me has been collected by that voyager. It is Malay, as truly as the Dyak of Borneo is Malay; whilst those who speak it, although called Harafuras, are Dyaks in frame and complexion. They were seen by Durville; and especially described as being fairer in complexion than the other inhabitants of the island. I have little doubt but that the Harafuras of Durville are the Turajas of Crawfurd and Raffles.

The Bugis, however, represent the learning, and the commercial activity of Celebes.

At present they are Mahometans. In A.D. 1504, when they were visited by the Portuguese, they were beginning to be so; their missionaries being the Mahometans of Sumatra and Malacca, and the religion, which was displaced, being Hinduism.

How far this came direct from India, or how far it came by way of Java, is uncertain. The results were the same for the two islands--in kind, but not in degree. An alphabet, and a literature, indicative of Indian influence, are common to both Java and Celebes. In the first island, however, they are the more developed. Inscriptions have hitherto been found in Java alone. The remains of temples have been attributed to Celebes, but they have not been described, and they have not been seen by Europeans.

The safe inference is, that the Hindu civilization extended itself somewhat later to Celebes than it did to Java; and that it took root less generally.

The Bugis are essentially maritime and commercial; and their name in the latter department is a good one; they being active, enterprising, and men who consider themselves bound by what they say.

_Bugis approach to a constitutional government._--I am following, implicitly, both the facts and the deductions of Sir J. Brooke, who writes from personal knowledge of the island of Celebes, which he visited from his Rajahship of Sarawak, in giving prominence to what may be considered the nearest approach to a _constitution_, that is to be found in any Malay area.

One of the kingdoms into which the southern limb of Celebes is divided is the kingdom of Wajo. Beginning with the lowest ranks, the so-called constitution of Wajo is as follows:--

_Servitude._--This is of a mild form, and of the domestic kind. Although so extensive in respect to its _numerical_ dimensions, as for one freeman to have, sometimes, upwards of fifty slaves, an export or import trade is unknown. Debt creates the usual supply; since by incurring an amount which he cannot discharge by means of his property, the debtor forfeits his personal freedom. As this forfeiture extends to his family, bondsmanship becomes hereditary.

_Freeman not of noble birth._--The lowest sort of political power exercised by a _freeman not of noble birth_, seems to be the power of holding meetings, where opinions may be stated, but where resolutions can not be passed. The practical bearing of this seems to be, that the higher magistrates have a means of knowing the feelings of the population at large upon any particular measure. Such meetings are convened by the special representatives of the people, _i.e._ of the not _noble_ portion of the state--the _Pangawas_.

_The Pangawas._--These are rude analogues of the _tribunes_ of the Roman constitution. They are elected by the people. They, alone, can convene certain councils. They have a _veto_ upon the appointment of the _aru matoah_, or sovereign magistrate. The details as to the state of the towns and villages, and the number of the population is in their hands. No summons to military service is valid without their consent. The number of pangawas is three.

_The Council of Forty._--A council of forty arangs, or nobles of inferior rank, is appealed to in cases of importance and difficulty by the--

_Six hereditary Rajahs._--Of these, three are civil, and three military. With these rests the election of the--

_Aru Matoah_, or chief magistrate.

Reversing the view here taken, and looking at the Wajo constitution from its highest elements downwards, the form becomes as follows:--

Aru Matoah. The six Rajahs, of which the _Aru Beting_ is chief. Council of Forty. Three Pangawas. General Council, or Meeting.

I must confess, that in the details both of the Wajo and Boni Constitutions, as given by Sir J. Brooke, I find several difficulties and inconsistencies. I presume, however, that each is accurate in the main points, and also that it is (so to say) _more of a constitution_ than could easily be found in any Malay parts elsewhere.

The Boni Constitution, just mentioned, is that of another of the Bugis kingdoms. It is the same in principle as that of Wajo, but less attended to in practice.

I agree, too, in the comparison between these constitutions and those forms of European feudalism wherein the right of free citizens first began to be respected. I am also well prepared to believe that, however much the _written_ constitution may have in it the elements of self-developed political freedom, the _details_ of its working may be unsatisfactory; as we are especially informed is the case. When I find that each rajah is said to possess the power of life and death over his retainers, I find a statement that requires much explanation before it can be made compatible with the asserted freedom of the people at large. So also I observe, that the office as _pangawa_ is, practically, hereditary--a great limitation to a true tribunicial authority.

An element of confusion, rather than a restraint upon individual freedom, is to be found in the principle upon which the _aru matoah_ is elected. The six rajahs must be unanimous. Failing this, one of them, the _aru beting_, with the support of the _pangawas_, and the council of forty, may nominate. Furthermore, during the vacancy, the _aru beting_ acts as the _locum tenens_, but only within certain limits. He is no _aru matoah_ in the eyes of the other Bugis kingdoms, so that he is no _aru matoah_ for any matters of what may be called _foreign policy_.

As unanimity is rare, and as the _aru beting_ has an interest in keeping the tenure of supreme power in abeyance, disputed elections continually interfere with the peace of the Bugis states; from whence it follows, as a necessary consequence, that the powers of the six hereditary rajahs increase at the expense of the powers of the _aru matoah_; a process by which the government becomes a close oligarchy, rather than an elective monarchy.

As a foundation for a constitution like the preceding, tenacity of the purity of blood must, necessarily, be a leading element. It exists in Celebes to the fullest extent. Though men may marry in a caste below the one they belong to, women are limited to their own. The practice here is more equalizing than the rule.

In Bugis polygamy, separate wives have separate establishments, and years may elapse without husband or wife having any communication with one another. Still, unless a divorce--procurable on light grounds--be effected, the marriage continues.

To the highest offices of the state, even to that of _aru matoah_, women are eligible; so much so that, at the present moment, four out of six of the hereditary rajahs are females.

* * * * *

"The strangest custom I have observed (_i.e._ among the Bugis) is, that some men dress like women, and some women like men; not occasionally, but all their lives, devoting themselves to the occupations and pursuits of their adopted sex. In the case of males, it seems that the parents of a boy, upon perceiving in him certain peculiarities of habit and appearance, are induced thereby to present him to one of the rajahs, by whom he is received. These youths acquire much influence over their masters. It would appear, however, from all I could learn, that the practice leads among the Bugis to none of those vices that constitute the opprobrium of Western Europe."[57]

By allowing ourselves to argue from the sanctity attributed by many ancient nations (_e.g._ the Greeks and Germans) to the female character, and by comparing the form which this strange custom takes in Borneo, where it is connected with the sacerdotal office, we arrive at a plausible explanation. Among the Sea Dyaks "their doctor, or magician, or both combined, is a man set apart for that office, who is thereafter considered as a woman. _She_, or _he_ marries a husband, adopts children, dresses as a female, and lives amongst the women, performing the domestic duties peculiar to the sex. The principal occupation is curing people by divers charms, driving away the devil and evil spirits. It must be allowed that the whole constitution of this office is an example of gross superstition; but the ceremonies attendant on it are in themselves inoffensive. A branch of a tree is fixed on the house; around it white cloth is wrapped; and near this spot the spathe of the betel or areca tree is placed (the spathe being indispensable); then the people assemble, and with unseemly noises rattling shells and beating gongs proclaim their joy and satisfaction.

"The office itself is called 'Manang;' and no particular age is specified, the 'Manang' being young or old, as chance may determine. The present occupier of this important post became so when quite a child, and he is now well stricken in years, and much respected by his tribe."[58]

THE MOLUCCAS.

_First Group._--Ternati, Tidor, Mortay (or Morintay), Gilolo.

_Second Group._--Banda, and other small islands.

_Third Group._--Amboyna, Ceram, Buru, Saparua, &c.

The inhabitants of these groups, or clusters, fall under the three heads which we are now prepared to expect.

1. _Mahometan Malays._--The influence of the Mahometan Malays had organized rajahships in the Moluccas anterior to their discovery, A.D. 1521. Of these, the most important was that of Ternati; the territory of which extends over Tidor, Gilolo, Mortay, and part of Celebes.

2. _A population of the character of the Bugis_, _i.e._ the population of the Archipelago, as developed by the influence of the sea-coast and the commerce that it evolved.

3. _A population of the interior of the Dyak_(?) _type._--Respecting these last I have not the definite information I could wish for. Small as are some of the islands--Amboyna and Tidor--tribes inferior and subordinate to the natives of the coasts and town, have been ascribed to the interior. Forrest states that these are Papua. This they are likely enough to be. Still it would not be surprising if they were light-coloured, and of the Dyak type.

Since the publication of Sir Stamford Raffles' tabulated vocabularies for these parts, I have looked in vain for any vocabulary representing a language other than the Malay. The Guebé vocabulary of Durville is Malay, and the Amboyna and Ceram vocabularies of Roorda van Eysingen are Malay.

The European influences have been Portuguese in the first instance. Afterwards and, at present, Dutch. Chinese settlements also are numerous.

Eastward of the Molucca Islands we come to New Guinea and the islands in its immediate neighbourhood. These belong to another department of the subject. The division at present to be noticed is the Philippine portion of the Malay area. This lies northward to the parts already described, and may have received its population by any one (or more than one) of the following lines of connexion.

1. _The Long island of Palawan._--Luçon, Mindoro, Busvagaon, Calamian, Palawan, Balabac, _North-western Borneo_.

2. _The Sulu Archipelago._--Mindanao, Basilian, the Sulus, _North-eastern Borneo_.

3. _Sangir and the islands to the north and south of it_--Mindanao, Serangani, Sangir, Siao, the Guning Tellu country in the _North-east of Celebes_.

4. _Mindanao, Serangani Salibabo, Gilolo_: Gilolo being equidistant between Celebes and Papua.

The first of these lines is the most probable.

PALAWAN.

Palawan, or Paragoa, is mentioned more from its prominence as a continuity of Borneo than for the sake of description. It is little known: partially under the Spaniards, partially independent.

THE SÚLÚS.

These are also stepping-stones from Borneo. They are Malay; and the headquarters of a Malay power; the most piratical of these seas. The Sultan of Sulu is the terror of the Dyaks of Borneo. He is also the sovereign of part of that island, of part of Palawan, and of the Cayagan group. I only know the short Sulu vocabulary of Rienzi.

THE PHILIPPINES.

_Divisions._--1. The southern island of Magindano, or Mindanao. 2. The northern island of Luçon, or Luçonia. 3. The Bissayan Archipelago between the two. Of this last, the most important islands are Mindoro, Samar, Leyte, Panay, and the Isola de Negros.

_Population._--Malay and Negrito.

Although at the present moment the aboriginal population of the Philippines may be studied in detail, such detail will be avoided; and no more than four leading points will be noticed.

1. _The Blacks of the Philippine group._--The existence of tribes darker coloured than the generality, is one of the earliest of the observations on these parts; and its confirmation one of the latest facts in modern ethnology.

Beginning at the island of Mindanao, we find, in Mallat,[59] the names of the following tribes--Dumagas, Malanaos, Manabos, and Tagabaloys. These are not described in detail, but are said to belong to the same type with the Negroes of the Bissayan Archipelago and Luçonia. They constitute the still savage tribes of the forests and mountains.

In the Archipelago our knowledge becomes more distinct, though still imperfect. The Blacks of Lasso were visited by Lafond Lurcy. They were nearly naked, with hair like cotton, very slim, and very undersized. Dr. Prichard makes these Negritos members of a group which he calls the _puny Negroes of the Archipelago_.

What Lafond Lurcy writes coincides with the statements of Mallat; who speaks of the Blacks of the type in question as being very Negro in feature, with the nose _peu épaté_, and with the hair _crépu_.

The _Isola de Negros_ takes its name from the greater proportion of the population being of this character, _i.e._ black, after the manner of the African.

In Luçonia, however, a second type appears.

IGOROTS.

Taller than the southern Blacks; more copper-coloured than black; eyes oblique; frontal sinuses much developed; hair harsh, hard, lank, and bright-black. Painted; tattooed on their hands with a figure like the sun.

BUSIKS.

More agricultural than the Igorots. Tattooed.

BUSAOS.

Milder in temper than the Igorots; tattooed on the arms only; pierced and enlarged ears.

ITETEPANES.

Small, and short; black; flat-nosed; eyes less oblique than those of the Igorots; hair straight.

All this verifies the statement of the Abbate Bernardo del Fuente,[60] according to which there are two varieties of Philippine Blacks, one with long, fine, and glossy, and one with crisped hair.

2. _The Philippine languages._--Of these the most important are the Tagala, the Bissayan, the Pampango, the Iloco, and the Abac. Of the Bissayan there are several dialects: the Mindanao, the Samar, the Iolo, the Bohol. The structure of the Tagala has been particularly studied by Humboldt. It represents the Malay in its most complex form; and is essentially agglutinate in respect to its inflection.

All the numerous Philippine dialects and languages are fundamentally Malay. Those of the Blacks are but little known. Still, as far as our knowledge extends, the philological phenomenon is the same as with the Samang of the Malayan Peninsula. The difference in language is less than the difference of form and colour.

3. _The Extent of Hindu influences._--These are less in the Philippines than in Celebes, and much less than in Java and Bali. Still the Philippines have a native alphabet, and this native alphabet has the same origin with the alphabets of Sumatra, Java, and Celebes; _viz._ the Hindu Devanagari.

4. _The remains of the original mythology._--I give what I know of this in the following note from Marsden's Sumatra,[61] where it is inserted from Thevenot, for the sake of illustrating that of Sumatra.

"The chief deity of the _Tagalas_ is called _Bathala mei Capal_, and also _Dinata_; and their principal idolatry consists in adoring those of their ancestors who signalised themselves for courage or abilities; calling them _Humalagar_, i.e. _manes_. They make slaves of the people who do not keep silence at the tombs of their ancestors. They have great veneration for the crocodile, which they call _nono_, signifying grandfather, and make offerings to it. Every old tree they look upon as a superior being, and think it a crime to cut it down. They worship also stones, rocks, and points of land, shooting arrows at these last as they pass them. They have priests, who, at their sacrifices, make many contortions and grimaces, as if possessed with a devil. The first man and woman, they say, were produced from a bamboo, which burst in the island of _Sumatra_; and they quarrelled about their marriage. The people mark their bodies in various figures, and render them of the colour of ashes; have large holes in their ears; blacken and file their teeth, and make an opening, which they fill up with gold. They used to write from top to bottom, till the Spaniards taught them to write from left to right. Bamboos and palm-leaves serve them for paper. They cover their houses with straw, leaves of trees, or bamboos split in two, which serve for tiles. They hire people to sing and weep at their funerals; burn _benzoin_; bury their dead on the third day in strong coffins, and sometimes kill slaves to accompany their deceased masters. They held the _caiman_, or alligator, in great reverence, and when they saw him they called him _nono_, or grandfather, praying with great tenderness that he would do them no harm; and, to this end, offered him of whatever they had in their boats, throwing it into the water. There was not an old tree to which they did not offer divine worship, especially that called _balete_; and even at this time they have some respect for them. Beside these they had certain idols inherited from their ancestors, which the Tagalas called _anito_, and the Bissayans, _divata_. Some of these were for the mountains and plains, and they asked their leave when they would pass them. Others for the corn-fields; and to these they recommend them, that they might be fertile, placing meat and drink in the fields for the use of the _anitos_. There was one of the sea, who had care of their fishing and navigation; another of the house, whose favour they implored at the birth of a child, and under whose protection they placed it. They made _anitos_ also of their deceased ancestors, and to these were their first invocations in all difficulties and dangers. They reckoned amongst these beings all those who were killed by lightning or alligators, or had any disastrous death, and believed that they were carried up to the happy state, by the rainbow, which they call _balan-gao_. In general, they endeavoured to attribute this kind of divinity to their fathers, when they died in years; and the old men, vain with this barbarous notion, affected in their sickness a gravity and composure of mind, as they conceived, more than human, because they thought themselves commencing _anitos_. They were to be interred at places marked out by themselves, that they might be discovered at a distance and worshipped. The missionaries have had great trouble in demolishing their tombs and idols; but the Indians, inland, still continue the custom of _pasing tubi sa nono_, or asking permission of their dead ancestors, when they enter any wood, mountain, or corn-field, for hunting or sowing; and if they omit this ceremony, imagine their _nonos_ will punish them with bad fortune.

"Their notions of the creation of the world, and formation of mankind, had something ridiculously extravagant. They believed that the world at first consisted only of sky and water, and between these two, a glede; which, weary with flying about, and finding no place to rest, set the water at variance with the sky, which, in order to keep it in bounds, and that it should not get uppermost, loaded the water with a number of islands, in which the glede might settle and leave them at peace. Mankind, they said, sprang out of a large cane with two joints, that, floating about in the water, was at length thrown by the waves against the feet of the glede, as it stood on shore, which opened it with its bill, and the man came out of one joint, and the woman out of the other. These were soon after married by consent of their god, _Bathala Meycapal_, which caused the first trembling of the earth; and from thence are descended the different nations of the world."

THE BABYANIS.

_Locality._--Due north of Luçon.

THE BASHIS.

_Locality._--Due north of the Babyanis.

I have no details respecting the Babyanis and the Bashis. They have been noticed, however, as forming the tract from Luçon to--

FORMOSA.

_Name._--Chinese Taï-ouan, originally Toung-fan.

_Political Relations._--Western side, subject to China. Eastern side independent.

_Languages._--Numerous dialects. The only known vocabulary, Malay.

_Authority._--Klaproth. Description de Formose, Melanges Asiatiques, p. 195.

The knowledge of the island of Formosa on the part of the Chinese begins no earlier than the year 1430 A.D.; and its oldest name in Chinese, _Toung-fan_, means _barbarians of the East_. The later name means the _Bay of Heights_.

This term is explained by the geological structure of the island. It is bisected from north to south by a line of mountains, upon which snow lies during November and December. This range is a line of demarcation in ethnology as well as politics. West of it we have the district that pays tribute to the Chinese, and in which there is a standing Chinese army, and a number of Chinese immigrants--chiefly employed in the rice cultivation. In the mountains themselves, and to the east of them, are the Aborigines. These are said to approach the Negro type, and to differ from one another in language--a fact that we are now prepared to expect rather than to discredit. Their arms are the dart and bow; and their swiftness of foot is described by the Chinese as being equal to that of the swiftest dogs.

They are Malayan in stock, and apparently but little mixed. The Japanese, and the Lúchú on the northern part of the island, and the Dutch on the present Chinese locality seem to have been their chief visitors. Neither held their ground permanently.

That an island so near as Formosa should have been so long unknown to the Chinese, surprises Klaproth; who reasonably thinks that it was known at an earlier period, but known under a different name. The more so, as the Pescadores islands, half-way between, are within sight of the mainland.

It is safe to consider that the population of Formosa is a continuance of the population of Luçon, and the Bashi islands. Of the island Lang-khiao, at the southernmost end of Formosa, I find, in Klaproth, an express statement that it is inhabited, and that its inhabitants are great breeders of sheep.

Of the Pescadores the original population is unknown. From what I collect from Klaproth, the natives were removed in 1387, A.D., by the Chinese, and transplanted elsewhere. How far this was, partial or complete, is uncertain. At present they are inhabited--probably by the Chinese, who replaced the exiles of 1387.

* * * * *

There can be but little doubt that Formosa was peopled from the northern part of Luçonia; in which case its inhabitants represent the stock of the Igorots, Busiks, &c., as modified by a more northern position, and by Chinese rather than Malay elements.

With Formosa we reach the northernmost limits of the Malays in this direction. The Lúchú islands, north of Formosa, have their affinities with Japan, and Japan has its affinities with the North and West, rather than with the South and East.

THE POLYNESIANS.

_Area._--From the small islands to the west of the Pelews to Easter Island, west and east. From the Mariannes and the Sandwich Islands north, to New Zealand south.

_Physical Conformation._--Modified Protonesian. Stature, perhaps, taller; tendency to corpulence more common; colour oftener approaching that of the European; hair often waved or curling; nose frequently aquiline.

_Nutrition._--But little azotized; saccharine and amylaceous.

_Aliment._--Preeminently vegetable, the coco-nut, the taro, the banana. Fish.

_Negative Characters._--Little, or no, use of the bow and arrow; considered to be a differential point between Polynesia and Kelænonesia.

_Conditions of Social and Physical Development._--Absence of large animals, either as beasts of burden or as food. Nearly general absence of rice and pulse. Intercourse entirely by means of canoes. Between Polynesia and Protonesia little or none. Between the different portions of Polynesia limited or

## partial. Malay and Hindu influences obscure. Present influences

European; of recent date.

_Religion._--Paganism, apparently indigenous. Uniform in its general character over a great extent.

_Languages._--Allied to each other, and mutually intelligible over large areas. Grammatical structure akin to the Tagala. Malay words numerous and evident.

_Divisions._--1. Micronesian Branch. 2. Proper Polynesian Branch.

Reasons will now be given for drawing a distinction between the Micronesians and the Proper Polynesians, and also for taking the Micronesians first in order. In the former I follow Prichard. In the latter I believe my arrangement is singular.

1. MM. Dumont Durville and Lesson, to whose observations on this, as in many other portions of oceanic ethnology, much of our information is due, have agreed in disconnecting the natives of the Western Oceanic Islands from those of the Eastern; insisting upon a difference of language, and a difference in physical conformation. Nay more, they would connect them with the Mongols of the Continent. To give prominence to this difference of opinion on the part of judges so well qualified as the two investigators in question, was Pilchard's reason for thus separating the Archipelago of the Pacific into two sections.

For my own part I consider that the grounds of difference set forth by MM. Lesson and Dumont Durville, although insufficient to establish the double position of an _affinity_ with the Mongolians, and of a _no_-affinity with the Polynesians, are sufficient to justify the sub-division of the kind in question. The absence, in Micronesia, of certain Polynesian customs, and the modified form of others are additional reasons.

2. The reason for taking the Micronesian branch before the Proper Polynesian, involves the following question--What was the line of population by which the innumerable islands of the Pacific, from the Pelews to Easter Island, and from the Sandwich Islands to New Zealand became inhabited by tribes, different from, but still allied to, the Protonesian Malays?--That line, whichever it be, where the continuity of successive islands is the greatest, and, whereon the fewest considerable interspaces of ocean are to be found.

This is the general answer, _à priori_; subject to modification from the counterbalancing phenomena of winds, or currents unfavourable to the supposed migration.

Now this answer, when applied to the geographical details regarding the distribution of land and sea in the great Oceanic area, indicates the following line--New Guinea, New Ireland, the New Hebrides, the Figis, and the Tonga group, &c. From hence the Navigators' Isles, the Isles of the Dangerous Archipelago, the Kingsmill, and other groups, carry the frequently-diverging streams of population over the Caroline Islands, the Ladrones, the Pelews, Easter Island, &c.

This view, however, so natural an inference from a mere land-and-sea survey, is complicated by the ethnological position of the New Guinea, New Ireland, and New Hebrides population. These are _not_ Protonesian, and they are _not_ Polynesian. Lastly, they are _not_ intermediate to the two. They _break_ rather than propagate the continuity of the human stream; a continuity which exists geographically but fails ethnologically.

The recognition of this conflict between the two probabilities, has determined me to consider the Micronesian Archipelago, as that part of Polynesia which is the part most likely to have been first peopled; and hence comes a reason for taking it first in order.

THE MICRONESIAN BRANCH OF THE POLYNESIAN STOCK.

_Area._--The Pelew, Caroline, Marianne Islands. The Tarawan group. As far south as about 7° S. L.

_Physical Conformation._--More Mongolian, in the limited sense of the term, than the proper Polynesian. Varieties both of hair and complexion.

_Language._--Dialects, probably, mutually intelligible. Probably unintelligible to the Proper Polynesians.

_Political relations._--Partly independent; partly subject to Spain.

_Religion._--Paganism and Romanism.

_European intermixture._--Chiefly Spanish.

_Negative characters._--Absence of the _tabu_ under the form in which it appears in Polynesia. Use of the drink called _kava_ either restricted, or modified. Considered to be differential points between Micronesia and Polynesia.

In these negative characters (of which, however, it is doubtful whether the exact extent has been ascertained), superadded to the fact, of the Micronesian dialects forming a separate language unintelligible to the Polynesian, and to the difference--real or supposed--in their physical appearance, lie good and sufficient reasons for considering the Micronesians to form a separate division. To which may be added, considerable differences in the way of creed and mythology.

LORD NORTH'S ISLAND.

_Locality._--Latitude 3° 2´ N. Longitude 131° 4´ E.

_Population._--About three or four hundred.

_Physical conformation._--Complexion, light copper, lighter than that of the Malays or Pelew islanders. Face broad, cheek-bones high, nose flattened.

_Pantheon._--Chief deity _Yaris_. Progenitor _Pita-kat_.

The account of Horace Holden,[62] an American sailor, who, with eleven others, reached the island of Tobi, in a boat, and who was detained there two years, is our only source of information for this important locality--_the nearest point of contact between Polynesia and Protonesia_.

No tribes have a harder struggle for existence. During the whole of Holden's residence, only five turtle were taken; fish being also scanty. Hence coco-nuts and the taro formed the chief food. It is reasonable, as well as charitable, to refer the churlishness of their tempers to this state of indigence. Perhaps, also, it is the reason why the men, as compared with the women, take a fair share of the labour of cultivation--a custom rare in other parts of Polynesia.

The effects of hunger in reducing the population are seconded by those of war. And here, the only weapons are the spear and club--_no bows and no arrows_.

The houses "are built of small trees and rods, and thatched with leaves. They have two stories, a ground-floor, and a loft, which is entered by a hole or scuttle through the horizontal partition or upper floor.

"For ornament they sometimes wear in their ears, which are always bored, a folded leaf; and round their necks a necklace made of the shell of the coco-nut, and a small white sea-shell."

All this merely connects them with the Micronesians. The tradition respecting _Pita-kat_ is more important. He "came many years ago from the island of Ternati, and gave them their religion, and such simple arts as they possessed."

SONSORAL.--JOHANNES ISLAND.

_Locality._--West of the Pelews. Nearest point to the Philippines.

THE PELEW GROUP.

_Synonym._--Palaos.

_Chief Islands._--Corror, Babelthouap, Pelelion.

_Native quadrupeds._--Rats.

_Vegetable products._--Coco-nut, bread-fruit, yam, batata, taro, ebony, sugarcane, orange, banana, bamboo, paper-mulberry. Rice and pulse wanting.

The paucity of quadrupeds, and the abundance of tropical vegetables is common to the Pelew Islands, and the whole of Polynesia. Hence, it is mentioned once for all. The chief exception, however, is an important one. The _hog_ will be found to be _partially_ distributed; and the

## partial character of its distribution has been one of the instruments

of ethnological criticism (especially in the hands of the French naturalists), by means of which the order of succession in which the different islands have been peopled has been investigated.

CLUSTER OF GOULOU.[63]

_Direction._--North-east from the Pelews.

_Locality._--Between the Pelews and the--

CLUSTER OF YAP. OULUTHY OR EGOY ISLANDS. THE MARIANNES.

_Synonym._--Ladrones.

_Name of Natives._--Chamorros.

_Chief islands._--Guam, Rota, Tinian.

_Physical appearance of Natives._--Stature higher than that of the other islanders, tendency to corpulence greater.

_Intermixture._--Considerable, _i.e._ with Polynesians, Philippine islanders, Spaniards.

Rota and Tinian are remarkable for containing the remains of massive stone buildings; the original use of which is wholly unknown to the present natives. The same phenomenon will be repeated in Tonga-tabú and Easter Island.

The Mariannes form the most northern portion of Micronesia. The direction will now be due east from the cluster of Goulou; about mid-way between the Pelews and Yap.

OULUTHY GROUP.

_Synonym._--Egoy Islands.

LAMOURSEK AND SATAWAL GROUPS.

_Direction._--West to east.

_Extent._--From 140° to 15° E. L. from Paris. Under 5° N. L.

_ Particular islands._--Lamoursek, Satawal, Faroilep (the most northern), Aurupig (the most southern).

PROPER CAROLINE GROUP.

_Direction._--From the Lamoursek and Satawal group fifteen degrees westward.

_Particular islands._--Hogoleu, Lougounor, Pounipet, Ualan.

A distinction which will often be applied in Polynesian ethnology may now be made. It is the difference between the geological structure of the different islands. Whether they are what is called _high_ or _low_ is important. In the high islands, where the structure is primitive, metamorphic, or volcanic, the conditions for social development are more favourable than in the low islands, of a coralline structure. In these last the food is less abundant, the sun more scorching, and, generally, the complexion of the inhabitants _darker_.

Again, the inhabitants of the low islands are generally at peace amongst themselves: those of the high islands at war.

In the ethnology of the Paumoto Archipelago, this distinction will be repeated. So it will elsewhere.

LOUGOUNOR.

_Synonym._--Lougoullos. Mortlock island.

_Physical conformation._--Stature, above the average; colour, _chestnut_, lips thick, beard long but thin, hair black, long, thick, slightly curling (_un peu crépu_), sometimes frizzy--Lütke, from Prichard.

_Language._--Allied to, but different from, the Ualan.

POUNIPET.

_Structure._--Volcanic.

_Population._--About two thousand.

_Physical Appearance._--Face broad and flat, nose flat, lips thick, hair crisp. Colour, between chesnut and olive. Height, average.--Lütke from Prichard.

UALAN.

The chief island of the Central Caroline group, or of the Caroline Islands in the more general sense of the term.

_Structure._--Volcanic.

_Physical conformation of the natives._--Stature average, hair black, beard scanty, only in some cases thick, forehead narrow, _eyes oblique_, nose somewhat flattened, face broad, complexion clear yellow (citron), lightest in the case of the chiefs.--_Lesson._

As the succession of islands now becomes less regular, and as the interval of sea between Ualan and the Archipelagoes east of it is considerable, it is necessary to consider the lines of passage between the proper Carolines and the Ralik and Radak chains to the north-west. These are two.

1. From Pounipet to the Isles of Brown; with Providence Isles half-way between.

2. From Ualan to the Radak chain, or Mulgrave's Islands.

ISLES OF BROWN.--RALIK CHAIN.

_Synonym._--Marshall's Islands.

RADACK CHAIN.

_Synonym._--Mulgrave's Islands.

The Radack and Ralik people are dark.

The direction is now south, and south-west, to an Archipelago lying under the Equator.

KINGSMILL'S GROUP. GILBERT ISLANDS. SCARBOROUGH ISLANDS.

_General name._--The Tarawan group.

_Latitude._--North and south of the Equator.

_Longitude._--Nearly that of the Fiji islands.

_Population._--Perhaps sixty thousand. In Drummond's Island six thousand.

_Physical appearance._--Complexion dark copper. More Protonesian than Polynesian. Cheek-bones projecting, nose slightly aquiline. Average height five feet eight inches.

In Pitt Island, the most northern of the group, the natives are lighter in colour than the other islanders, taller, stronger, and better-limbed; with smooth bodies, oval faces, and regular and delicate features.

THE PROPER POLYNESIAN BRANCH OF THE POLYNESIAN STOCK.

_Area._--The Navigators, Society, Friendly, and other groups of the Pacific. The Marquesas; the Dangerous Archipelago; Easter Island; the Sandwich Isles; New Zealand, &c. With the exception of the Sandwich Isles and New Zealand, south and east of Micronesia. Nearer to Kelænonesia than to any part of Protonesia.

_Physical conformation._--Maximum and, perhaps, average stature higher than in Micronesia. Aquiline nose commoner. Varieties both of hair and complexion. The former wavy and curled as well as straight; sometimes chestnut-coloured. Skin, often fairest in the parts nearest the Equator; becoming darker as the distance increases. Oftener, also, darker in the coralline than in the volcanic islands.

Face oval. Ears generally large.

Zygomatic development moderate. Occipito-frontal profiles truncated behind, elevated at the vertex.

Nostrils generally spreading.

_Language._--Dialects mutually intelligible; probably unintelligible to the Micronesians.

_Political relations._--Wholly independent, colonized, or protected.

_Religion._--Paganism, Romanism, Protestantism, Imperfect Christianity.

_European intermixture._--Chiefly English, American, and French.

_Habits._--The superstition of the _tabu_; the use of _kava_ as a drink. See the notice of Micronesia. Cannibalism, tattooing, circumcision, more or less, common.

With the view of saving repetition, a notice of the Polynesian mythology will precede the enumeration of the islands; for each and all of these the creed being, in its general principles, as truly one and the same as is the language, the same divinities appearing with the same functions and under similar, or but slightly-changed, denominations. Hence, sometimes the difference between two Pantheons is merely verbal. Generally, however, it is real. Even then, however, we find no new element; but one of two things. Either the same story appears in a varied form; or else some portion of the mythology which is but slightly prominent in one group of islands, takes unusual importance in another; the fundamental identity of character being manifest throughout.

Of the common elements of the general Polynesian creed the following are the most important; those which are most special, and least general or abstract, being taken first in order.

_The supernatural spirits that interfere directly with human concerns._--Mischievous beings, imps or goblins, that play so prominent a part in the superstitions of all countries, play a prominent part in those of Polynesia. These may appear under any out of a multiplicity of forms. There may be the spirit protective to a certain family; the spirit protective to a certain pursuit; the god of the sailor, the fisherman, or the tiller of the soil. Good they may do and mischief they may do--either in a material or an immaterial form, in their own shape or in the shape of sharks, lizards, storks, snipes, or any other dumb animal. From a belief of this kind to the superstition of omens is but a single step, so that rats that squeak, and comets that show their beards, and noses that sneeze, and birds that fly the wrong way, all become the expositors from Powers beyond those of mortality. Then the rock, and glen, and above all the volcano and earthquake, become palpable objects to be connected with a presiding divinity.

To these and to the like of these all the islanders look. Some look beyond them.

_Múoi_ (_Mawi_) is more man than God; the supporter, or rather the support, of the earth. This lies on the gigantic extension of his body; and earthquakes result from its movements. Where he is either more or less than the comparatively passive substructure of all things material, he is a wise wizard who foretells events; or else the maker rather than foundation-stone of the world. Just as Tangaloa did in the other parts of Polynesia, Mawi did in New Zealand. What this was will be soon seen.

_The Cosmogony._--The Polynesian world--how much beyond it is uncertain--was fished up from sea by Tangaloa; Tahiti was the first part that appeared. Just as its rocks showed above water, the line broke. However, the rock in which the hook stuck can still be seen in the island of Hoonga; and the family of Tuitonga, until very lately, were in possession of the hook. There was enough land, however, to be worth filling with human beings and human food. And this was done by Tangaloa.[64]

Such is the Tonga account. In New Zealand, as already stated, the artificer is changed; and Mawi does the work of Tangaloa. In Tahiti, and Samoa, the workman is the same, but the work different. The Tahitian Tangaloa formed the ocean from the sweat of his brow--so hard did he work in making the land. The Samoan sent down his daughter Tali, in the shape of a snipe, to survey the world below. As she saw nothing but sea, her father rolled down a stone which became one island, and another which became a second, and so on. The first growth of such islands were wild vines. These were pulled out of the ground, and heaped up to rot, so that worms were produced. Out of these worms grew men and women.

_The Happy Island._--In an island like their own, only more beautiful, live the higher gods, and the souls of chiefs, kings, and councillors. In Tonga this island is Bolotoo. It was once visited; but those who visited it died, having breathed its air.

_The residents and visitors of the Happy Island._--First amongst these are the gods themselves and their servants; not, however, Mawi--

The souls of the chiefs after death--

The souls of the councillors after death--

_Caste-system._--The list of the inhabitants of Bolotoo stops at a certain line of nobility. The people are the servants of the chiefs, and the servants of the chiefs have no share of enjoyment after death.

At this point, the mythology and the social constitution of the Polynesians act and react upon each other. Those who have no political rights in life, have no existence after death (or _vice versâ_); and the result is a system half caste, and half feudalism.

Whether the king or priest be paramount, depends upon their respective individual characters. There is room for the subtle brain as well as for the strong hand. So it is, as between king and chief. The vassalage is perfect or imperfect according to the strength of the

## parties. Whatever, however, may be the relative position of the king,

the priest, or the chiefs, the people are sure of their thraldom; a thraldom to their _immediate_ superior, the chief.

Add to these elements of social subordination and insubordination, the existence of tribes and the influence of descent. A family may be descended from some god that took an earthly island for his residence. This will give it a precedence even over the kings.

From the feeling of pedigree, and from the belief that the nobler families become spirits after death, we have the belief in ghosts, and the reverence for the dead. Whoever studies the details of the Polynesian creeds and traditions will find abundant instances of this; and in such detail they should be studied. To exhibit them (as has just been attempted) in a _general_ point of view, can only be done by applying terms adapted to a different system, and, as such, only

## partially appropriate. It can only be done at the sacrifice of those

special elements which give life and individuality to a description. Such, however, as it is, the previous sketch is the only one that could be admitted into a work like the present.

* * * * *

Beginning with the fourteenth degree S. L., the distribution of the Polynesian islands runs off in three different directions.

1. From west to east; _i.e._ from the Navigators' Islands to Easter Island.

2. North-east; to the Sandwich Islands in 20° N. L.

3. South-west; to New Zealand in 35° S. L.

NAVIGATORS' ISLANDS.

_Synonym._--Archipelago of Samoa.

_Islands._--Opoun, Leone, Sanfoue, Maouna, Oiolava, Pola.

_Complexion._--Dark bronze.

_Numbers._--According to Captain Wilkes, 56,000: of which 14,850 are Christians. Majority of the remainder attending the missionary schools.

_Pantheon._--Tangaloa-lagi, Tamafaiga, Sinleo, Onafanna, Mafuie, Salefu, Merua Fuana, Tinitini, Lamanau, Tuli, &c.

_Real or supposed peculiarities._--Use of the bow; which is used also in De Peyster's island. Rare elsewhere.

THE TONGA GROUP.

_Synonym._--The Hapai Islands; the Friendly Islands.

ISLANDS. POPULATION. Eooa 200 Hapai 4,000 Vavao 4,000 Keppell's Islan 1,000 Boscawen's Islan 1,300 Tonga-tabú 8,000 ______ Total 18,500 ______

Said to be on the increase. Number of Christians, about 4,500.

_Pantheon._--Múoi.--The Hotooas, Táli-y-tobú, Higooléo, Tooboo-toti, Alaivaloo, Ali-ali, Tangaloa--Tangaloa's sons, Toobó, and Váca-ácow-ooli, &c. Bolotoo=the Happy Island.

Term for the Tonga chiefs--_Egi_. " " councillors--_Mataboulai_. " " king--_How_. " " lower classes--_Mooa_. " " lowest--_Tooa_.

_Real or supposed peculiarities._--Infant sacrifices; the cutting off of a finger on the death of relatives; domestic architecture on a scale approaching that of Borneo. Remains of stone architecture; probably the tombs of the chiefs.

HERVEY ISLES.

_Names._--Rarotonga, Atiu; Mangaia, Aitutaki, Mauke, Mitiaro, Manuai.

_Population._--About fourteen thousand; of which one-half belongs to Rarotonga.

AUSTRAL ISLANDS.

_Names._--Rimatara, Rurutu, Tupuai, Raivavai.

_Population._--About one thousand. Decreasing.

RAPA.

_Locality._--South of any island yet named, and isolated.

THE TAHITIAN GROUP.

_Synonym._--The Society Islands.

_Islands._--Ulietea, Otahá, Bolabola, Huaheine, Tabai, Maurua.

_Pantheon._--The Tii Maaraauta=the spirit reaching toward the land. The Tii Maaraatai=the spirit reaching toward the sea. Eatooa=gods in general. Tii Hina, Taaroa (= Tangaloa). Maui Raiatea (the analogue of Bolotoo).

Terms for the Tahiti chiefs--Eree, or Tiara. " " councillors--Manahounis. " " lower classes--Toutous.

PAUMOTU.

_Meaning._--Cloud of islands.

_Synonym._--The Low Islands. Dangerous Archipelago.

_Structure._--Generally coralline.

## Particular islands and groups--

AURA.

_Locality._--S. L. 15° 40´ W. L. 146° 30´ The most savage of all the islands of the Archipelago, and the one that has most rarely been visited with impunity.

CHAIN ISLAND.

_Locality._--S. L. 17° 30´ W. L. 45° 30´ Described as being like Aura, to Captain Fitzroy, by Mr. Middleton, who had passed some time on the island. Cannibals. Conquerors of the rest of the Archipelago, except Aura. The first ship they had manned by a black crew.

GAMBIER ISLANDS.

_Names._--Mangareva, Akena, Akamaru, Tarawari, &c.

_Structure._--Volcanic.

_Population._--About two thousand.

PITCAIRN ISLAND.

_Locality._--South of the Gambier group.

DUCIE'S ISLAND.

_Locality._--West of the Gambier group.

There is a great difference in physical conformation between the inhabitants of different members of the Paumotu group. Some are well-made, nearly on a level with the measurements of European, and with a "fine Asiatic countenance, with beards and mustaches, but no whiskers--men who might pass for Moors."[65] Others approach the character of the Negroes.

We know now the doctrine that this difference will engender; and we know the exception that it will call for. More than one writer have seen in Paumotu islanders specimens of a second race. More than one have seen only the same race under different conditions.

Now, Captain Beechey has found that this difference in the inhabitants coincides with the difference of the islands. The well-grown tribes of the Polynesian type are the tribes of the volcanic Islands, Pitcairn's and the Gambier group. The blacker variety is found on the low islands.

EASTER ISLAND.

_Synonym._--Teape.

_Locality_.--The most eastern island of Polynesia. Solitary.

In Easter Island there stood in the year 1722, and there stand now, statues of colossal proportions, sometimes on the level ground, sometimes on platforms of hewn stone, representing (or misrepresenting) the upper half of the human figure, with enormous ears, shapen out of lavas, some soft, and some too hard for any tool known to the present natives, objects of wonder to them, but not objects of worship.

That they are not objects of worship is inferred from the extent to which they are neglected. When fallen, or broken they are not repaired; neither are they connected with the burial-places.

These seem to have an existence in another form, in that of cylindrical heaps of stone; the meaning of which a native explained to M. de Langle by laying himself down on the ground, and then lifting his hands towards the sky.

The mystery of these statues is increased by a remark of Captain Beechey's. He had seen the like of them elsewhere; but he had seen them on uninhabited islands.

The eastern extremity of the Paumotu Archipelago points towards Easter Island; the northern line is the nearest point to--

THE MARQUESAS.

_Names._--Hivaoa, Tahuata, Fatuhiva, Easter=the south-eastern group. Nukahiva, Uahuka, Uapou=the north-western.

_Population._--Perhaps two thousand.

The natives of the Marquesas are considered as the handsomest men of Polynesia.

The natives of the Marquesas are most at war with one another of all the Polynesians. Their chief island is intersected by a mountain-ridge; and the mountain-ridge (like most mountain-ridges) supplies a fierce body of quarrellers.

The natives of the Marquesas speak a greater variety of dialects (or sub-dialects) than the natives of any other group. This has engendered the doctrine that they were colonized from more quarters than one.

Distant though it be the Nukahiva group is the nearest point to--

THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

_Names of islands according to the dialect or orthography followed by Prichard._--Hawaii, Maui, Tahaurawe, Morokini, Ranai, Morokai, Oahu, Tauai, Niihau, Taura.

_Names of the islands according to the dialect or orthography followed by Simpson._--Hawaii, Mowee, Kakoolawe, Lanai, Molokoi, Woahoo, Kanai, Niihau.

_Structure._--Volcanic.

_Physical appearance of the natives._--Height above the average. Mouth square and heavy.

Extract from M. Chloris: "Les enfans, en venant au monde, sont complêtement noirs; la jeune fille la plus jolie, et la plus delicate, qui s'expose le moins à l'action de l'air et du soleil, est noire; celles qui sont obligées de travailler constamment à l'ardeur du soleil, sont presque de couleur orangée." This orange tint is noticed by Mr. Simpson, who describes the Hawaiians as intermediate to the black Negro and the Red American--more, however, red than black.

The majority of the Polynesian islands present the phenomenon of an imperfect and recent civilization engrafted upon a state of comparative barbarism; and none more than the Hawaiian group. No area is, at once, so European and so Polynesian. Neither in any area are the influences more mixed. The population is mixed also. White and half-breeds constitute a large and increasing proportion of the population; the white being from England, from America, and from France.

This is the way in which the admixture of foreign blood takes place within the island itself. But it is not the only way. The Sandwich Islanders are themselves emigrants, and they are found upon the opposite coast of America; thus giving admixture to the Californian and Oregon Indians. They do the same in South America on the coast of Peru and Ecuador.

It is this determination of the Sandwich Islands to America, that gives us the phænomenon of the American and Oceanic admixture--a new and imperfectly studied form of union.

This dispersion of the Sandwich Islanders tells a story on more matters than one. It speaks to their enterprize, maritime capacity, and value as industrial assistants. This is what they are at home, and this is what they are abroad.

Since the discovery of the Sandwich Islands by Cook, the three great influences that have been at work, are--

1. The wars, and policy of Kamehamehu. 2. Missionary influences. 3. Commercial and political influences.

1. At the accession of Kamehamehu, as now, the system of caste that determines the social state of New Zealand, Tahiti, and other parts of Polynesia, regulated that of the Sandwich group. The chiefs, however, held but nominally under the sovereign. Each in his own island, was practically an independent ruler. The wars of Kamehamehu coerced the chiefs of the smaller islands, and left him the sovereign of a consolidated empire. This he administered in the spirit of a Pagan, and a conqueror. Of the god of the volcano and earthquake that had helped him to his early victories, he lived and died the constant worshipper and support.

By the further favour of the same, he hoped to reduce the Tahitian group; an idea that raises his assemblage of canoes to the dignity of a fleet. At any rate, the force for land, and the force for sea underwent an incipient organization in the reign of Kamehamehu.

Then again, he was not only a great merchant, but the only great merchant in his dominions. The chief export was the sandal-wood, which, bearing a high price in the China market, and growing chiefly on the more inaccessible mountains, could only be collected at the expense of grinding labour, and fatal suffering as the portion of the helot population. This decimated the islands as much, or even more, than his wars.

At the death of Kamehamehu a weak tyranny succeeded a strong one. The monopoly of the sandal-wood was divided between the chiefs; and the multitude of masters increased the amount of suffering. I am writing from what I find in Sir G. Simpson, and add that the extremes of bloodshed and oppression brought with them their own remedy. The coercion was too successful to leave an enemy to fight against; and the sandal-wood became too nearly exhausted to command its previous price of life and labour.

In 1819, the great father of his dynasty died; and his idols died with him. Pagan as he was himself, his nation had outgrown Paganism; and there was a _tabula rasa_ for any better creed.

2. With the reign of Liho-Liho began the influence of the missionaries--American, English, and French; the American and English with their respective forms of Protestantism, the French with Romanism. I have no inclination to meddle with the distasteful details of these mischievous contests. The ethnological result is the triple character of the influence now in operation. In politics, Hawaii is independent; independent and semi-constitutional; with its independence guaranteed by England, America, and France. In religion it is Protestant--with Romanism tolerated and something more; tolerated and making way amongst the people.

3. The improvement of the agriculture of the Sandwich Islands is going on steadily. Silk and sugar are beginning to be grown; and a healthier trade is replacing the sandal-wood monopolies.

I have admitted the previous notice of the character of Hawaiian civilization for the sake of comparing it with the present state and actual prospects of the islands. Cook, when he visited them, put the population at four hundred thousand--an exaggeration. Perhaps it came to half as much. In 1832 and 1836, there were censuses; of which the result was as follows:--

POPULATION.

NAME. AREA. 1832. 1836. Hawaii 4,600 45,792 39,364 Mowee 620 35,062 24,199 Lanai 100 1,600 1,200 Molokoi 190 6,600 6,000 Kakoolawe 60 80 80 Woahoo 530 29,755 27,809 Kanai 500 10,977 8,934 Niihau 90 1,047 995 ----- ------- ------- Whole group 6,090 130,313 108,579 ------ ------- -------

This gives us a reduction; a reduction which has increased by 1840. This, I suppose, is the one from which Prichard takes his numbers, for two of the islands--

For Maui 18,000 --- Woahoo 20,000

Emigration will not account for this decrease. This we may see at once, from the proportion in 1840--the figures and reasoning are Sir G. Simpson's--in the single island of Kanai, between that part of the population which was under, and that part which was above, eighteen years of age.

1ST DISTRICT. 2ND. DO. 3RD DO. 4TH DO. Under eighteen 706 309 372 685 Above eighteen 2,229 1,043 1,178 2,134 ------ ------ ------ ------ Total 2,935 1,352 1,550 2,819 ------ ------ ----- ------

"Here," Sir G. Simpson continues, "is an average of one person under eighteen, to rather more than three persons above it--a state of things which would carry depopulation written on its very face, unless every creature, without exception, were to attain the good old age of seventy-five." To this we add a remark upon the bearing of the early period of marriages throughout Polynesia. Not _one_--but _two_--generations are included in the population under eighteen years; since before that time boys and girls have begun to have boys and girls of their own.

This disproportion accounts for the decrease. But what accounts for the disproportion?

In 1824, Mr. Stuart wrote that--"in those parts of the islands where the influence of the mission had not extended, two-thirds of the infants born perish by the hands of their own parents before attaining the first or second year of their age."

In 1840, there were found in Kanai out of 5,541 adults, only sixty-eight, and sixty-five women who had more than two children each, and that with a bounty, in the shape of an exemption from certain taxes, upon a number to that amount; whilst in Woahoo the births were sixty-one, the deaths one hundred and thirty-two.

Distant though it be, the Tahitian group is the nearest point to--

NEW ZEALAND.

_Native name of northern island._--Ikana, Mawi.

_Native name of southern island._--Tavai, Punamu.

_Native name of the language._--Maori.

CHATHAM ISLAND.

_Locality._--Twelve degrees east of New Zealand.

_Appearance of the natives._--Colour dark; so much so as to be called by the New Zealanders, _Blafello=Black-fellow_, a term adopted from the English.

Such are the larger islands and archipelagoes of Polynesia. To these must be added the following smaller groups.

UNION GROUP.

_Locality._--Five degrees due north of the Navigators' Islands.

_Names._--1. Bowditch Isle, or Fakaafo. 2. Duke of York's Island, or Oatafu. 3. Duke of Clarence's Island, or Nukunono.

_Population._--About one thousand.

_Structure._--Coralline.

_Language._--Intelligible to the Samoans.

_Food._--Coco-nuts, pandanus-nuts, fish.

Although so near the Equator, the Fakaafo people are the fairest of the Polynesians.

VAITUPU GROUP.

_Name._--1. De Peyster I., or Nukufetau. 2. Tracy's I., or Vaitupu. 3. Ellice's I., or Funafati.

_Language._--Intelligible to the Samoans.

_Real or supposed peculiarity._--The bow used in De Peyster's Island. Except in the Navigators' Isles; rare elsewhere.

These islands have importance as connecting Northern Polynesia with Southern Micronesia. The people are dark-coloured and bearded.

PENRHYNN ISLAND.

_Locality._--Midway between the Marquesas and Union Isles. Inhabitants numerous as compared with the size of the island.

ROTUMA.

_Synonym._--Granville Island.

_Locality._--Lat. 12° 30´ N. Long. 177° 15´ E. Three hundred miles from any other land.

COCO ISLAND.

TRAITOR'S ISLAND.

_Locality._--North of the Friendly Islands. Lat. 15° 50´ S. Long. 174° W. _i.e._, between the Tonga and Samoan groups.

HORN ISLAND.

WALLIS ISLAND.

_Locality._--Between Rotuma and the Samoan Archipelago.

SAVAGE ISLAND.

_Locality._--Four degrees east of the Friendly group; _i.e._, between the Tonga Isles and the Hervey and Austral groups.

TIKOPIA.

_Locality._---Lat. 12° 30´ S. Long. 169° E.

_Population._--About five hundred.

In Tikopia the locality is nearly Kelænonesian; whilst the physiognomy and language are Amphinesian; and of the two Amphinesian branches, most probably Polynesian.

On the other hand, they use the bow and arrow, and raise cicatrices by burning--both of which habits are Kelænonesian.

FOTUNA.

_Synonym._--Erronan. A few miles east from Tanna, a Kelænonesian Island.

IMMER.

_Synonym._--Muia. _Ditto._

The locality creates the interest for these two islets. They are not only isolated from the other parts of Polynesia, but are portions of another geographical area.

FREE-WILL ISLAND.

_Locality._--Fifty minutes north of line, to the west (or north-west) of New Guinea.

_Natives._--Copper-coloured, with long black hair.--_Carteret from Prichard._

The natives of Free-will Island require further description. It is nearly certain that they are _Amphi_nesian--but whether Protonesian or Micronesian is uncertain. Laying aside, for the present, Madagascar, and the Fiji Islands, we shall find that the more important questions connected with the ethnology of Polynesia are as follows--

1. The affinities with Protonesia.

2. The differences between Polynesia Proper and Micronesia.

3. The extent to which one of these last-named divisions is more Protonesian than the other.

4. The details of the dispersion within the limits of a single division; Micronesia or Polynesia, as the case may be.

5. The _general_ dispersion and distribution.

6. The inferences arising from the existence of the darker coloured, and more Negrito-like population.

7. The date of the Polynesian dispersion.

1. _The affinities with Protonesia._--Much has to be done in this department; especially in regard to the indication of similar habits and customs; and in respect to the explanation of undoubted and important points of difference. Indeed, at the present moment, the proof of the Protonesian affinities with Polynesia is almost wholly philological. Still, of its kind, it is satisfactory and scientific. That isolated Malay words were to be found far beyond the proper Malay area was known as early as the time of Reland. By Marsden, Crawfurd, and others, the list was enlarged. The evidence, however, that the grammatical structure of the South-Sea languages was equally Protonesian with the vocabularies, forms the most valuable part of a late publication--the posthumous dissertation of W. Von Humboldt on the Kawi language of Java. In this the Tagala of the Philippines is taken as the sample of a Protonesian grammar in its most elaborate and complex form; a starting-point which explains the structure of the Polynesian and Malagasi tongues in a manner far beyond any amount of elucidation that could have been drawn from the comparatively simple structure of the proper Malayan.

For all questions of this sort the great work just named is the thesaurus and repository. It is also the thesaurus and repository for all facts connected with the history of the Hindu influences on Protonesia.

The other ethnological phænomena, _not_ philological, that naturally belong to this part of the subject, will be noticed under the third head.

2. _The differences between Polynesia and Micronesia._--Some of these have been noticed. None, however, have been of equal importance with the difference of language. The exact appreciation of their import is difficult.

The fact of the bow and arrow being either not used at all, or used but little (according to the American explorers in their _games_, but not in their _wars_), must be taken as _relative_, rather than as a simple _negative_, fact.

_a._ It is used in Kelænonesia.

_b._ The parts of Polynesia where it is used (Samoa, De Peyster's Islands, and Tikopia) are the parts nearest to Kelænonesia.

The absence of the tabu in Micronesia is, probably, less of an unqualified fact than it seems to be. In the Proper Polynesian form, and with the Polynesian name, it has probably no existence. In more than one Micronesian island, however, certain objects are held sacred, certain objects are generally prohibited, and certain objects are prohibited under certain conditions.

_The Polynesian custom of drinking kava not Micronesian._--What applies to the tabu applies here. Kava, under the name of _kava_, and prepared, as in Polynesia, from the fermentation of the _root_ of the _piper methusticon_, is not drunk in Micronesia. _Shiaka_, however, is a beverage at Ualan (and probably elsewhere); and _shiaka_ is a fermentation of the leaves of the _piper methusticon_.

The _differentiæ_, then, between Polynesia Proper and Micronesia are subject to criticism; so much so that instead of saying that a Polynesian custom is wanting in Micronesia (or _vice versâ_), we should rather say that the Polynesian habit takes a modified form. Above all, the criticism applicable to all _negative_ statements is preeminently applicable here.

Facts of the same sort with the _kava_, and _tabu_ observations, are to be found in other matters, _e.g._ the Micronesian sails by the stars, the Polynesian by the flight of birds. The Micronesian canoe is an amphisbæna, _i.e._ it can be paddled either way, and it is generally simple. The Polynesian, on the other hand, is often double, and almost always an outrigger: so much so that the appearance of Cook's vessels, on the discovery of Tahiti, was hailed by the natives as a fulfilment of one of the prophecies of Mawi; which was to this effect:--That a canoe such as never had been seen by any native before--a canoe without out-riggers, should at some future time visit the island. Now so impossible a thing was a canoe without out-riggers in the eyes of the Tahitians, that the prophecy was laughed to scorn. So in order to gain credence, Mawi launched his wooden dish upon the waters, which swam as he said the strange canoe should swim. Afterwards, when Cook sailed towards the islands, his ship was held to be the prophesied canoe; and at the present moment English vessels have been called _Mawi's canoes_.

The sum, perhaps, of all the distinctions of the sort already indicated, will give between Polynesia and Micronesia, the difference between a Dutchman and an Englishman; certainly not less--probably more. Probably more, because the very considerable difference in the details of the two mythologies has yet to be added. A brief notice of these may be found in Prichard's chapter on the Marianne Islanders; and this reference is all that our space allows. That the difference, however, of the superstitions is _not less_ (probably _greater_) than the difference between the languages is a safe conclusion.

The differences in the general moral character of the two divisions lie within a small compass. Coldness of manner in general, less tendency to bloody warfare, less laxity amongst the female part of the population, and less cannibalism, are points wherein the Micronesian character has the advantage. The Micronesian domestic arts also, such as dyeing and weaving, are in advance of the Polynesians.

3. _Distribution of Protonesian characteristics._--Which of the two divisions has the most of these? This is partially answered by some of the observations which have just preceded: two other facts answer it more fully.

_a._ The opinions of MM. Durville and Lesson, as to the connexion of the Micronesians with the Mongolians--without being evidence in favour of the Micronesian branch being the more _Protonesian_, of the two, this is, certainly, a fact in favour of its being the more _continental_.

_b._ The opinion of Le Gobien, one of the early Missionaries, "that the Caroline Islanders came from the Philippines."

4. _Details of the distribution within the limits of a single division._--The question as to the particular part of Micronesia, or the particular part of Polynesia, from which the rest of the respective areas was peopled, is so much a part and parcel of the broader question as to the origin of the population _en masse_, that it belongs, in its entirety, to a latter stage of our inquiries. Still there are a few facts which may be noticed at once; and these apply to Polynesia Proper.

Assuming as a postulate, that the direction of the line of population is from east to west (or _vice versâ_), from north to south (or _vice versâ_), &c., it is reasonable to suppose that each isle has been peopled from the one nearest to it, and that _exclusively_. Hence no second source of population is to be assumed _gratuitously_. Upon reasonable grounds, however, it _may_ be assumed; _e.g._ in the Marquesas, it is said, that the difference of dialects for the different islands is scarcely consistent with a population from the Paumoto group exclusively. So also, in the Sandwich Islands, although Nukahiva is the _primâ facie_ source of the population, Tonga elements occur in a degree beyond that in which they are found in Nukahiva itself. Here, also, the inference of a second element is legitimate.

Missionaries and ethnologists, who have applied a sagacious criticism to the problem of the _immediate_ population of Polynesia, have found good reasons for believing that the _first archipelago of Polynesia Proper_ that received a population from some other quarter, and which transmitted it, in different streams elsewhere, was the _Samoan_ or _Navigators'_ Islands. This opinion, the grounds of which may be found in full in the ethnological portion of the United States Exploring Expedition, is, probably, the right one; at any rate it is the proper inference, from the facts known to the investigators.

The last three questions will be better considered after the notice of the _Oceanic Negritos of the Kelænonesian area_.

_THE MALEGASI BRANCH_(?).

The consideration of the Malegasi Amphinesians is deferred until we treat upon the ethnology of Africa.