140 
race of Asia.” * The researches of Max Miiller and others 
prove the same affinities to exist. 
Captain Moresby, in The Voyage of the Basilisk to South- 
West New Guinea (now British), speaks of Malay- Polynesian 
inhabitants there having the arts of pottery, weaving, &c. (A 
gentleman from Brazil states that the cheap tiles used for 
roofing there easily crumble into dust, being imperfectly 
baked.) There is another clear proof of degeneration in 
the history of the aborigines of Formosa. In the seven- 
teenth century the Dutch held Formosa for thirty-eight years, 
until driven out by the pirate Coxinga, who, in turn, had to- 
cede it to the Chinese. It is said that during their stay the 
Dutch civilised the aboriginal tribes, which, however, have 
now turned to complete savagery, and it is even said 
cannibalism, resembling somewhat the Dyaks of Borneo and 
Malay-Polynesians. Curiously, however, in 1871, 210 years 
after the Dutch exit, Mr. Legendre, the American Consul at 
Amoy, found amongst the Baksa tribe, inhabiting a district 
twenty-eight miles east of Takow, documents written in the 
Roman character; and another traveller, Mr. J. B. Steere, 
of the University of Michigan, found about the same place a 
number of papers, apparently deeds and contracts, written in 
the same manner. ‘These are much treasured by their 
owners, although the art of writing and the language in which 
they are written have been wholly lost.+ 
From the dates it appears that some of these were written 
a century and a half after the Dutch left, showing how long 
their teaching had survived among these wild tribes, and also 
showing the possibility of degeneration when secluded from 
civilising influences. 
Thus even the dying out of arts once flourishing is well 
attested. 
The Rev. J. G. Paton, of the New Hebrides Mission, 
reports, in The Southern Cross, that earthenware is now only 
made on Santo, although remains prove that it used to be 
made also on the other islands of the group. Pace Sir John 
Lubbock, the art may die out, and all trace disappear, as 
native pottery (for instance, in Fiji and elsewhere) is very 
fragile, and crumbles easily to dust. 
In speaking of the manufactures of the Otuans—a Malay 
race inhabiting the nO Group in the South 
Pacific—Dr. Pickering says { : 
* See Bruce’s Manual of Ethnology, pp. 158-160, 162, 167, 168. 
+ Times’ Article, February 9, 1885, on Formosa and its Pirate Chief. 
t See his Physical History of Man, p. 52. 
