g ETHNOGRAPHY. 



(probably Lua Fatu, the Two Rocks,) is sometimes given to them. 

 Like the first mentioned, they are small in extent, but lofty, and sepa- 

 rated by a narrow channel. The number of inhabitants on these 

 islands is unknown, but it cannot exceed three or four thousand. 



North of the Niua Group, and west of the Navigators, in 13 26' 

 of south latitude, and about 176 of west longitude, is Uea, or Wallis's 

 Island, which is a compact cluster of one high and several coral islets. 



Tikopia, in latitude 12 30' S., longitude 169 E., is the most 

 westerly island now known to be inhabited by people of the Polyne- 

 sian race. It is seven or eight miles round, with a population of 

 about five hundred. 



Fotuna (or Erronan) and Niua (or Immer) are two small hilly 

 islands, a few miles east of Tanna, one of the New Hebrides. 

 Though so near to and constantly communicating with the dusky 

 inhabitants of this group, the natives retain the physiognomy and 

 language of the Polynesian race. 



Chatham Island, twelve degrees east of New Zealand, is peopled 

 by a few hundred natives, who are said to have the customs and 

 speak the dialect of the New Zealanders. 



Savage Island lies about four degrees east of the Friendly Group ; 

 it is small in extent, moderately elevated, and has but a scanty popu- 

 lation. 



Penrhyn Island is the name given to a small ring of coral islets in 

 latitude 9 S., longitude 158 W., or midway between the Mar- 

 quesas and Union Groups. The inhabitants were found to be nume- 

 rous in proportion to the size of the island. 



Easter Island, or Vaihu, the most easterly of the Polynesian 

 islands, is situated in latitude 27 S., longitude 109 50' W. It is 

 about thirty miles round, and is supposed to have not far from two 

 thousand inhabitants. 



From the foregoing enumeration it will appear that the entire 

 population of Polynesia does not reach half a million. There is, 

 perhaps, no people which, in proportion to its numbers, has been the 

 subject of so much interest and of such minute investigation. This 

 may be ascribed in part to the character of the natives, in itself more 

 pleasing and attractive than that of most savages, but principally it is 

 due to the peculiar position of the islands which they inhabit, scat- 

 tered over a vast ocean, which has been, for the last hundred years, 

 ploughed by the keels of every maritime power. In the course of 

 our voyage we visited six out of the ten principal groups, namely, the 



