464 Memoirs Bcniicc P. Bishop Mitscuin 



currence in Melanesia, are probably referable to the negroid stratum in the 

 southeastern Polynesian population. It also has several features in Cdnimon with 

 the western Polynesian culture. It seems probable, therefore, that it is a blend 

 between a culture of w'estern Polynesian type and the culture of the Caucasic 

 immigrants who mixed with negroids to produce the southeastern Polynesian 

 culture. The historic Hawaiians are predominantly brachvcephalic Init Sullivan 

 concludes that they are a thorough mixture of the Caucasic and Indonesian races. 



Each of the three races present in Polynesia probably entered the region 

 at a different time and brought with it a distinctive culture but it is still impos- 

 sible to establish their chronological sequence. The negroid race was probably 

 the first to arrive in central and southeastern Polynesia. The main argument 

 which has been advanced against the presence of a negroid population in this 

 region has been the supposed inability of negroid peoples to make the long voy- 

 ages necessary to colonize Polynesia. It is improbable that a race able to reach 

 Fiji from the Xew Hebrides, the nearest Melanesian group to the west, would 

 have been unable to cross the shorter stretch of sea separating Fiji from Tonga 

 or to make the only slightly longer trip from F'iji to Samoa. The central and 

 southeastern Polynesian groups are comparatively close lying and it w^ould not 

 have been difficult for even poor navigators to pass along them as far east as the 

 Austral and Tuamotu Islands. It is not necessary to suppose that the migration 

 of the negroid race was a deliberate or organized movement. It is probable that, 

 like the historic Alelanesians, they disliked long voyages but their presence in Fiji 

 proves that they had seaworthy vessels and it would always be possible for a canoe 

 to be blown out of its course and carried to islands unknown before. There is 

 no indication that a pure negroid race reached Flawaii and the negroids probably 

 did not reach New Zealand or the Marquesas except as inclusions in some 

 superior race. 



The order of arrival in Polynesia of the Caucasic and Indonesian races 

 must be left an open question. The traditional movements in Polynesia have 

 been from west to east and from southeastern Polynesia to Hawaii, the ]\Iar- 

 quesas and New Zealand. As the Indonesian stock seems to be strongest in 

 western Polynesia this may indicate that it was the last to arrive. At the same 

 time, the Indonesian element in the populations of New Zealand and the Mar- 

 quesas seems to be strongest in those localities which are least desirable for 

 settlement and which are farthest from the probable points of arri\-al of innni- 

 grants from the rest of Polynesia. In New Zealand and the !^Iarquesas, there- 

 fore, the Indonesian race may have preceded the Caucasic race. It seems prob- 

 able that the sequence of arrival of the three races in central and southeastern 

 Polynesia was first, Negroid; second, Caucasic: third, Indonesian. The priority 



[204] 



