4 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
be made by almost every voyager ; and it is by no 
means improbable, that there are yet many islands, 
and even groups of islands, which remain unknown 
to the inhabitants of the other parts of the globe. 
Most of the early voyages of discovery in this 
ocean attracted unusual attention : those made in 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the 
facilities they were expected to afford in the ulti¬ 
mate discovery of the long-sought southern conti¬ 
nent ; or the rich booty they furnished the daring 
adventurers, who often captured the Spanish ves¬ 
sels loaded with specie or precious metals. The 
narratives of voyages of a later period were equally 
attractive, by the fascinating descriptions they pre¬ 
sented of countries and people before unknown. 
Among these, none appear to have excited a live¬ 
lier interest, or produced a deeper impression, 
than those performed by Captain Cook, in the 
close of the eighteenth century. They were in¬ 
strumental, in a great degree, in diverting public 
attention from the splendid and stupendous disco¬ 
veries in the New World, and directing it to the 
clustering islands spread over the Pacific ; exhi¬ 
biting them in all the loveliness of their natural 
scenery, the interesting simplicity, and novel man¬ 
ners, of their inhabitants. The influence of Cook’s 
discoveries appears to have been felt by voyagers 
and travellers of other countries, as well as by 
those of his own. Humboldt, speaking of his labo¬ 
rious researches in South America, remarks, that 
“ the savages of America inspire less interest, 
since the celebrated navigators have made known 
to us the inhabitants of the South Sea, in whose 
character we find such a mixture of perversity and 
meekness : the state of half-civilization in which 
these islanders are found, gives a peculiar charm 
