MICRONESIA. 71 



That this may be done, judging by what little we have been able to 

 effect for two or three of the islands, we entertain no doubt. And it 

 is certain that few more important fields now remain open for ethno- 

 graphical research. 



We sometimes speak of the numerous colonies which have pro- 

 ceeded from Great Britain as being one people, inasmuch as they 

 have issued from a single source ; and in this sense we may apply the 

 term to the tribes of Polynesia. We also speak of the inhabitants of 

 the Roman empire at least after two or three centuries of conquest 

 as forming one people, inasmuch as the various nations and tribes to 

 which they belonged had been cemented and fused together, by the 

 general ascendency and intermixture of one dominant race, and in 

 this sense alone the term is applicable to the natives of the Microne- 

 sian islands. Hence it will be seen that no general description can 

 be given of the latter, which shall be every where equally correct, and 

 which will not require many allowances and exceptions. 



The Micronesians, as a people, do not differ greatly in complexion 

 from their neighbours of Polynesia. Their colour varies from a light 

 yellow, in some of the groups, particularly the western, to a reddish 

 brown, which we find more common in the east and southeast. The 

 features are usually high and bold, the nose straight or aquiline, the 

 cheek-bones projecting, the chin rounded and prominent. The nose 

 is commonly widened at the lower part, as in the Polynesian race, but 

 this is not a universal trait. The hair, which is black, is in some 

 straight, in others curly. The beard is usually scanty, though among 

 the darker tribes it is more abundant, and these have often whiskers 

 and mustachios. In stature, the natives more often fall below than 

 exceed the middle height, and they are naturally slender. That 

 which especially characterizes this people, is the great elevation of 

 the forehead, and indeed of the whole head, as compared with its 

 breadth. This was general in those whom we saw, and is apparent 

 in nearly all the portraits of natives which have been given by diffe- 

 rent voyagers. 



In character, the Micronesians at least those of them who belong 

 to the lighter coloured tribes will compare advantageously with any 

 other people, whether savage or civilized. Their most pleasing, and, 

 at the same time, their most striking trait, is a certain natural kindli- 

 ness and goodness of heart, to which all their visiters, of every 

 country and character, bear the same testimony. Wilson at the 

 Pelew Islands, Kotzebue at Radack, Duperrey and D'Urville at 



