306 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 
that the Polynesi phatically a nation of fishermen, would be suf- 
ficientto suggest the idea. When the priests, to whom the religion and my- 
thology were especially committed, were called upon to account for the 
formation of the land which they inhabited, they would of course refer 
it to their great god Tangaloa or Maui, and no other mode would be so 
likely to occur to them as that by which they themselves had frequently 
drawn up fragments of coral rock from the bottom of the sea. 
The fact that two or more stories are sometimes current on the same 
group, shows in what light they are regarded by the natives; not as ar- 
ticles of their religious creed, which they are bound to believe, but 
merely as traditions handed down from their fathers, which, though re-- 
spectable for their antiquity, may, after all, not be true. Their opin- 
ions on this subject therefore differ widely from those which they hold 
with regard to the existence and power of their gods, of which none of 
them entertain a doubt. 
4; Cannibalism among the Polynesians, (ibid., p. 37.)—The Polyne- 
sians may, without injustice, be called a race of cannibals. In New 
Zealand, the Hervey group, the Gambier Islands, the Paumotu Archi- 
pelago, and the Marquesas, the practice is, or was, universal, and is con- 
fessed by the natives with no apparent feeling of shame. In the Nav- 
igator, Friendly, Society, and Sandwich Islands, though not common, 
it was in former days occasionally practiced, and (which is the most 
important point) was not regarded with any great horror. By some it 
has been supposed that this custom originated in the fury of revengeful 
hostility; by others, in the cravings of hunger during seasons of famine. 
But the natives of New Holland, who are quite as ferocious as the 
Polynesians, and who frequently suffer severely from the want of food, 
are not cannibals. 
There is in the minds of most men, savage as well as civilized, @ 
certain notion of sanctity attached to the dead body of a human being,— 
a feeling of dread and repugnance at the idea of touching or disturbing 
a corpse,—which no effort can altogether vanquish. This feeling, 
however, appears hardly to exist among the people of these islands, as 
is apparent in several of their customs. It will be sufficient to mention 
two. The Polynesians do not, usually, like many savage tribes, tor- 
ture their prisoners to death; nor are they wont, as a general thing; to 
preserve any part of the body of a slain enemy as a trophy,—though 
this is sometimes done. But it is their chief object, and especial de- 
light, to secure the corpse, for the purpose of practicing upon it every 
horrible disfigurement which the imagination can devise. Mr. Ellis 
relates several of the modes in use among them, and remarks that some 
are too revolting to be described. No other race of savages has evinc- 
: ed this disposition to the same extent. 
lain aaa ORE 
