Malayan and Polynesian Lanyuayes and Races. 197 



think it, on the whole, more probable that they were indige- 

 nous also in the former, than that they wer^e introduced from 

 any quarter, and consequently that the culture of the one, 

 and the domestication of the other, were native arts. 



The hog and dog of the South Sea Islands are very pecu- 

 liar varieties. The hog is said to resemble the Chinese 

 breed, having a short body, short legs, a belly hanging almost 

 to the ground, and erect ears. The dogs have " a prodigious 

 large head, remarkably little eyes, pricked ears, long hair, 

 and a short bushy tail." This is neither the hog nor dog of 

 the Malayan islands in the wild or domesticated condition. . 



All the domesticated animals are very imequally distri- 

 buted over the Soutii Sea Islands. The hog, the dog, and 

 common fowl are all three found only in the Society and 

 Sandwich groups. New Zealand has the dog only. The 

 Mai'quesas, the Friendly Islands, and New Hebrides, want 

 the dog. Easter Island and New Caledonia have only the 

 common fowl. This last alone is general.* 



Tliis irregularity of distribution is remarkable, and would 

 seem to point at tiie precarious nature of the communication 

 through which so many of the islands have been peopled by 

 the same nation ; for, had the intercourse been one of ordinary 

 facility, it cannot be doubted but that the emigrants would 

 have carried along with them their usual domesticated ani- 

 mals, in the entireness of their number. 



The animals of the islands of the Pacific, now existing 

 only in the domesticated state, may, then, once have existed, 

 in some of them, in the wild one, and, as in other countries, 

 been exterminated in the progress of population. The hog 

 and common fowl in the wild state are certainly found in 

 some of tlie Malayan islands much smaller than Tahiti or 

 Owaii, from which, at the same time, the large quadrupeds, 

 the ox, the buffalo, the rhinoceros, and the tiger, are ex- 

 cluded. 



Still, it must bo admitted that this branch of the subject is 

 full ol' ditticultios. The Sandwich Islands, to the north of 

 the equatoi-, had the liog, the dog, and common fowl, while 



* Forstor's Observations on C'uok's Voyage. 



