528 COMPULSORY MIGRATIONS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



that frequently people from eastern islands of which nothing had been 

 previously known on the Society Islands were cast on the shores of 

 Tahiti. 1 



In the small number of instances in this eastern district of the region 

 where boats are driven out of their course, compulsory voyages against 

 the wind are not largely represented ; but they are not entirely want- 

 ing. Thus it is positively proved that the austral island Tubnai, 2 pre- 

 viously mentioned, was peopled at a recent date, 1840, by natives of 

 an island lying westward, probably Rimitara, and the immigrants were 

 brought there by unfavorable winds. 3 Timoe or Crescent Island also 

 received its population accidentally and from the west, namely, from 

 Mangarera. 4 Lastly, the case of voyagers being driven from Baiatea 

 to Tubuai is also assured to us. 5 



It would be of special value to our position if we could record an 

 instance of an accidental voyage to Easter Island, but though this is 

 not possible, there are two actually certified voyages against wind and 

 current from the Paumotu group which are analogous to the case we 

 must assume in order to bring the Easter Islanders into connection 

 with the other Polynesians. Captain Beechey 7 found on the island of 

 Byam (Martin) forty Tahitians — men, women, and children— who had 

 been swept in a double canoe against the prevailing wind from Chain 

 Island to Barrow Island (Waua Wana), a mere reef, that is, a distance 

 of about 1,000 kilometers. Beechey took one of these unfortunates, 

 Tuwarri, on board, and when they reached Bow Island this Tahitian 

 found his brother and various friends, who had been stranded there by 

 the same disaster. The latter had first made a voyage with the wind, 

 so that the total length of their passage was about the same distance — 

 1,000 kilometers. 8 



' Ellis : I, page 125. 



2 United States Exploring Expedition, V, page 130. 



3 Ibid., page 140. 



"Ibid., page 130. 



•Tbid. 



'There is probably no donbt that Easter Island has also been peopled from the 

 west. Beechey gives excellent reasons for it (L 79). Micklucho-Maclay informs Bas- 

 tian in a letter that Easter Island was known to the inhabitants of the nearest 

 island as Rapa nui (Zeitschr. d. Ges. f. Erdk. Berlin 1879, 7) . According to tradition, 

 the population of this island came from Oparo, lying 1,900 miles westward. Images 

 and stone slabs, like those in Easter Island, have been found there (Palmer, p. 29). 

 Geiseler also supports this; but mentions a tradition, according to which the Easter 

 islanders are said to have come from the Galapagos Islands; but this tradition is 

 opposed to the opinions of other natives; besides, the Galapagos Islands were 

 uninhabited. (Easter Island, an abode of prehistoric civilization in the South 

 Seas, p. 43.) 



7 Beechey: Voyage in the Pacific Ocean, I, page 261. Palmer, page 30, and many 

 others. 



'It is also an important circumstance that Wilkes found driftwood at Enderbnry 

 (3° 8' S., 171° 8' W.) which must have come from the west. (Behm, in Petermaun, 

 1859, p. 181); and Hale (p. 157) speaks of the wreckage of ships drifting upon 



