238 NATURAL HISTORY OP 



confirmation of the removal of Polynesians by war, by 

 design, or by stress of weather, to the eastward, that to 

 the 20th degree of south latitude, and to more than 200 

 leagues at sea, a south-west and south cold wind blows, 

 with a current coming from the pole, and setting towards 

 the south-west coast, drives floating bodies on the shores 

 of Chili. Easter Island, the farthest eastward of all the 

 Polynesian groups, containing inhabitants, is as remote 

 from them as from the longitude where these winds and 

 currents prevail ; hence the casual arrival of Polynesian 

 wanderers could scarcely fail to reach the coast of Chili ; 

 and subsequently they were, it is obvious, driven east- 

 ward, to commix with the Brazilian tribes, and south- 

 ward, to form the race of Araucas ; others, perhaps 

 from the Sandwich Islands, are the progenitors of the 

 tribes on the Sacramento river, on the north-west coast, 

 where the women still wear the Maro, and the men 

 have short undulating hair, with beard and whiskers 

 very soft and silky. 



That another immigration was continuous for ages 

 from the east of Asia, is sufficiently indicated by the 

 pressure of nations, so far as it is known in America, 

 being always from the north-west coasts, eastward and 

 southward, to the beginning of the thirteenth century. 

 It appears to have taken place mostly by the Aleuthian 

 Islands, and southward, to the Columbia and California. 

 Here, also, the facilities for this purpose were mostly 

 furnished by nature, and the propelling cause when 

 landed, is likewise detected, by the country supplying 

 little food between the rocky mountains and the sea. 



