4 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



and New Britain, New Ireland, the Solomon Islands, and the New 

 Hebrides, to the east. Australia is another name for New Holland, 

 the aborigines of which are remarkable for presenting the singular 

 combination of a complexion as dark as that of the African negroes, 

 with soft and straight hair, as in the white race. Micronesia is a term 

 applied to the long range of little groups and strips of coral rock, which 

 are scattered over the Pacific to the north of the equator, and east of 

 the Philippines, the most important of which are the Pelew and 

 Marian (or Ladrone) Islands, Banabe, the Radack Chain, and the 

 Kingsmill Group. Finally, the name Polynesia has been long used 

 to designate the islands in the East Pacific, inhabited by light-coloured 

 tribes, allied to the Malaisian, and all speaking dialects of one general 

 language. This being the division which was first and longest under 

 our observation, will be first described. 



POLYNESIA. 



The principal groups of Polynesia, with their native names arid the 

 estimated numbers of their inhabitants, are as follows : 



1. The Navigator Islands. This group is situated between 169 

 and 173 of west longitude, and between 13 and 15 of south latitude. 

 It consists of four large islands, Savaii, Upolu, Tutuila, and Manua ; 

 and four small, Manono, Apolima, Orosenga, and Ofu. Savaii, the 

 largest and most westerly, is about one hundred miles in circuit. The 

 native name for the whole group is Samoa. The population is esti- 

 mated by the missionaries at fifty-six thousand six hundred, of which 

 four-fifths belong to the two large islands of Savaii and Upolu. 



2. The Friendly Islands. These lie south-southwest of the pre- 

 ceding, between the meridians of 173 and 176 E., and the paral- 

 lels of 18 and 22 S. The group consists of three distinct clusters, 

 that of Tonga, that of Habai, and that of Hafulu Hau. The first 

 named is the southernmost, and consists of two large islands, Tonga 

 and Eua, and several small ones. Tonga is the largest island of the 

 Friendly Group, for which its name is commonly used as a general 

 appellation, the island itself being distinguished by the epithet of tabu, 

 or sacred. It is rather more than sixty miles in circuit, and contains 

 about one hundred and fifty square miles. It is a low, flat island, of 

 coral formation, elevated but a few feet above the level of the sea, and 

 covered with a rich soil of vegetable mould two or three feet deep. 



