990 



TOLYNESIA 



ready on the point of quitting the field, when Pomarre, one of the principal chiefs, maae a 

 profession of Christianity, and the temples and altars of the pagan idols were everywhere thrown 

 down. 



8. Low Islands^ or Paumalu Archipelago. This name has heen given to an almost num- 

 berless range of groups of small rocky inlets, lying southeast of the Society's Islands, and in- 

 cluding the Chain Islands, Gambia- Islands., Bow Islands, Lagoon Islands, &c. They are 

 all of the coral formation, and in most instances hardly rise above the level of the waves. The 

 natives are rude and savage in their manners and habits, and many of them are cannibals. The 

 pendanus and the cocoa-nut tree are their most valuable productions ; the rat is the largest 

 native quadruped, but dogs and hogs have been introduced into some of the islands. 



9. Pitcairn''s Island. This little island lies to the east of the last desci'ibed islands, and de- 

 rives interest from the singular history of the little colony that now occupies it. In 1789, 

 Captain Bligh, an English navigator, was set adrift in a small boat by his mutinous crew, soon 

 after leaving Otaheite. Christian, the ringleader of the mutineers, having kidnapped a number 

 of the Tahitans, settled himself with his followers, in this retired spot. Disputes soon broke 

 out among them, and after 13 years, only one of the founders of the colony, one Smith, who 

 had taken the name of John Adams, survived; '6 women and 19 children, the wives and ofl- 

 spring of the mutineers, then formed the whole of the litile community. These Adams con- 

 vinced of the terrible consequences of a vicious life, now trained in the principles of the 

 Christian religion, and some years afterward, when the island was revisited for the first time 

 after a long interval, they were found to be a well-instructed, orderly, pious, and happy society, 

 consisting of about 60 persons. 



10. JSTavigator^s Islands. This archipelago is a cluster of 7 principal and some smaller 

 islands, which are subject to diflerent chiefs, and are thickly peopled. The largest of the 

 group is Pola. 



11. Friendly Islands. This group comprises 3 principal islands, Tonga, Vavaoo, and 

 Eaooa, and a great number of small isles ; there is an English missionary station on Tonga ; 

 Vavaoo contains several good harbors. These islands are governed by several independent 

 chiefs. 



12. JSTeiD Zealand. New Zealand, or Tasmania, consists of 2 large islands, separated by 



Cook's Strait, and having an area of about 

 95,000 square miles. The inhabitants are 

 active and intelligent, but ferocious and war- 

 like, and although they have built vessels, 

 entered into a trade with Sydney, and engaged 

 in the whale fishery, they are yet ferocious 

 savages and cannibals. There are missionary 

 stations upon the northern island, but their in- 

 fluence is inconsiderable. English and Amer- 

 ican vessels prosecute the seal and whale fishe- 

 ries upon the coast, and em_ploy some of the 

 natives as seamen, and English vessels from 

 New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, 

 visit the country to procure the celebrated New 

 Zealand flax, which is peculiar to these islands, 

 and is remarkable for its silky lustre. The 

 only art of civilization for which the natives 



have acquired a taste is that of destruction, and they will submit to the greatest sacrifices to 

 procure firearms, which enable them to kill and eat their enemies. The climate of these 

 islands is temperate, and the soil fertile and covered with a vigorous vegetation. 



13. Inhabitants. The inhabitants of Polynesia, with the exception of those in the north- 

 western groups, so strikingly resemble each other in appearance, language, institutions, and 

 manners, that there can be no doubt of their belonging to the same stock, which is generally 

 thought to be closely allied to the great Malay family. 



The northwestern islanders, inhabiting the Pelew, IMariannes, Carolines, &c., differ from the 

 other Polynesians in many respects. They have some arts which are unknown to the latter ; 

 they are remarkable for their skill in constructing boats, and in navigating them, being exact ob- 

 servers of the stars, and possessing a rude sort of compass. The rapidity with which they 



JVcw Zealander. 



