ciiAr. XL.] IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 455 



the natives of Gilolo and Ceram, the Fijian, the inhabi- 

 tants of the Sandwich Islands and those of New Zealand, 

 are all varying forms of one great Oceanic or Polynesian 

 race. 



It is, however, quite possible, and perhaps probable, 

 that the brown Polynesians were originally the produce of 

 a mixture of Malays, or some lighter coloured Mongol 

 race with the dark Papuans ; but if so, the intermingling 

 took place at such a remote epoch, and has been so assisted 

 by the continued influence of physical conditions and of 

 natural selection, leading to the preservation of a special 

 type suited to those conditions, that it has become a fixed 

 and stable race with no signs of mongrelism, and showing 

 such a decided preponderance of Pa])uan cliaracter, that 

 it can best be classified as a modification of the Papuan 

 type. The occurrence of a decided Malay element in the 

 Polynesian languages, has evidently nothing to do with 

 any such ancient physical connexion. It is altogether 

 a recent phenomenon, originating in the roaming habits of 

 the chief Malay tribes ; and this is proved by the fact 

 that we find actual modern words of the Malay and 

 Javanese languages in use in Polynesia, so little dis- 

 guised by peculiarities of pronunciation as to be easily 

 recognisable— not mere Malay roots only to be detected 

 by the elaborate researches of the philologist, as would 

 certainly have been the case had their introduction been as 



