548 The National Geographic Magazine 



NATIVE ASSEMBLY HOUSE: BORA, SOCIETY ISLANDS 



The early Pacific explorers found such structures on many islands ; great native gatherings 



were held in them 



Pacific Ocean remains today the most 

 explored but the least known extensive 

 region of the globe. 



After the days of early exploration 

 the interest of the white man centered 

 chiefly around those Pacific archipela- 

 goes which were either situated on con- 

 venient commercial routes or where the 

 friendly disposition of the natives invited 

 the newcomer to sojourn among them. 

 This quality of racial disposition has 

 been very instrumental in determining 

 the development of certain island groups 

 and accounts in part for the fact that 

 among the various archipelagoes, these 

 inhabited by the Polynesian race have 

 been the great centers for the white man 

 and have therefore departed from primi- 

 tive standards most. In many cases the 

 reputation of ferocity and cannibalism 

 of islands inhabited by Papuans and 

 other races hostile to strangers has 

 warded off the tide of civilization for 

 many generations and left the island con- 

 tinent of Xew Guinea and such archipel- 



agoes as the Solomon Islands to this day 

 very much in a condition of primitive 

 savagery. 



In order to place before scientists the 

 record of the Pacific which yet remains, 

 there has recently been inaugurated at 

 Honolulu, Hawaii, the Pacific Scientific 

 Institution, whose object is to stimulate 

 public interest in the great work of Pa- 

 cific exploration and to take definite 

 steps toward its accomplishment. 



The main object of the institution is to 

 promote and carry out a complete scien- 

 tific exploration of the Pacific Ocean 

 realm. The chief interest will largely 

 group itself around ethnology — that is, 

 around subjects affecting the races of 

 mankind which inhabit the ocean archi- 

 pelagoes. 



More theories have probably been pro- 

 pounded and dogmatically asserted con- 

 cerning the origin of the Pacific island- 

 ers than of any other race of man. 



The study of this important question 

 will not onlv seek to determine the mode 



