president's address SECTION F. 141 



In the first number of the Journal of the Polynesian Society- 

 there is a description of one of these ancient structures, discovered 

 by Mr. Handley Sterndale on the island of Upolu, Samoa. While 

 rambling in the interior of the island he came to a lof'y spur of 

 a mountain, Avith a volcanic centre. He crossed several deep 

 ravines, down which flowed mountain torrents. One of these 

 ravines had been converted by the hand of man into a fosse. In 

 some parts it was excavated, and in others built up at the sides 

 with large stones, and in one place he found a parapet wall. He 

 climbed up this gully, and passed through a narrow gap in the 

 wall. Then he discovered on a level space before him a conical 

 structure of huge dimensions, about 20ft. high and 100ft. in 

 diameter, bviilt of large basalt blocks, some of which he considered 

 to have been about a ton weight ; they were laid in even courses. 

 In two places near the top he remarked what appeared to have 

 been entrances to the interior. He entered a low cave or vault, 

 choked with rock and roots of trees. He found appearances of 

 narrow chambers within. Mr. Sterndale thought that this pyra- 

 midal structure at one time formed the foundation of some build- 

 ing of importance. Many other such fomidations of 10ft. high 

 were near it. He also observed a number of stone cairns, appa- 

 rently graves, disposed in rows. There was also a paved court, or 

 mausoleum, covered by a huge banyan tree, with a stone cromlech 

 in the centre. Mr. Sterndale asks, " What manner of men could 

 have inhabited the stronghold below, and have been laid to rest in 

 this woodland necropolis ':"' and adds, "• I am well convinced that 

 these remains were the work of a people anterior to the existing- 

 race of Samoans. Their origin, like many other remarkable relics 

 and ruins in the Pacific, is a part of the great mystery of the 

 isles, i.e., of the early distribution of man throughout the Poly- 

 nesian archipelagoes." This philosophical remark accords Avith the 

 opinion held by many anthropologists, that there were Polynesian 

 races of very high antiquity. The investigation before us will, I 

 firmly believe, open up a long vista of past ages, and reveal to us 

 races of men occupying the isles of the Pacific long anterior to the 

 races now found there. Without venturing an assertion, except 

 upon more valid grounds than a mere supposition, yet I may 

 suggest with some diffidence that these monumental structures of 

 South America and Polynesia may have derived their ori;,'in from 

 the temple of Belus in Babylon, and the gigantic tumuli of Lydia 

 and Lycia in Asia Minor. The clay pottery manufactured in some 

 parts of New Guinea, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, and in 

 Fiji bears some resemblance to the terracotta vessels of these 

 countries. 



The philological phase of anthropology we may consider as the 

 most important and helpful factor in determining the question of 

 the origin of the Polynesian races. It is gratifying to find that 

 many philologists in Europe, America, and Australia are devoting. 



