98 THE POLYNESIAN RACE. [PART I. 



The tradition, which I found to be universal in 

 New Zealand, is, that they came from the eastward, 

 and not from the westward, as was asserted to sus- 

 tain the theory of their uninterrupted migrations 

 from Asia. This tradition gives rise to very inte- 

 resting considerations : the true Polynesian race is 

 separated from Asia by the Austral negroes and the 

 Malayans races which, being inferior both in phy- 

 sical strength and mental capabilities to the Polyne- 

 sians, cannot be believed to have pushed them to the 

 eastward. I am by no means anxious to broach a new 

 theory ; but thus much seems evident, if we are guided 

 by tradition, by language, and by the geographical 

 distribution of the true Polynesians that, if they 

 actually came from the Malayan peninsula, or from 

 Java or Borneo, this emigration must have taken 

 place in very primitive times, when the mother 

 tongue of the Malayan and Polynesian languages 

 had not yet undergone any alteration; that they 

 cannot have gradually made their way through the 

 chain of islands which stretches from Java to the 

 Viti islands, as in that case we should find many 

 of these islands inhabited by the Polynesian race, 

 and not by the Austral negro. On the other hand, 

 the fine and regular cast of countenance of the New 

 Zealanders, the Jewish expression of their features, 

 the very light colour of their skin, and the whole 

 of their customs, remind us greatly of that primi- 

 tive Asiatico-African civilization which attained its 

 greatest height under the empires of the Phenicians 



