412 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
and a memento to the most sublime feelings of grateful 
devotion. 
With my fellow-voyagers I could enter into nothing 
like reciprocally interesting conversation on these sub¬ 
jects. Their legends of the nature and origin of the 
stars were most absurd and fabulous; and my attempts 
to explain the magnitude^ distances^ or movements of the 
heavenly bodies, appeared to them unintelligible— 
Their “ souls proud science never taught to stray 
Far as the solar walk or milky-way.” 
The natives of the islands were, however, accustomed 
in some degree to notice the appearance and position of 
the stars, especially at sea. These were their only guides 
in steering their fragile barks across the deep. When 
setting out on a voyage, some particular star or constel¬ 
lation was selected as their guide in the night. This they 
called their aveia, and they now designate the compass 
by the same name, because it answers the same purpose. 
The Pleiades were a favourite aveia with their sailors, 
and by them, in the present voyage, we steered during 
the night. We had, indeed, a lantern and a compass 
in the boat, but being a light ship’s compass, it was of 
little service. 
Although the Polynesians were destitute of all correct 
knowledge of the sciences, the first principles of which 
have been recently taught in the academy more regularly 
than they had heretofore been, they had what might be 
called a rude system of astronomy. They possessed 
more than one method of computing time; and their 
extensive use of numbers is quite astonishing, when we 
consider that their computations were purely efforts of 
mind, unassisted by books or figures. 
