Surely such a concurrence of very characteristic conformities cannot be the result of mere accident; and, when combined with the specimens of affinity of language mentioned at the beginning of this note, it should seem, that we are fully warranted, from premises thus unexceptionable, to draw a certain conclusion, that the inhabitants of the various islands discovered or visited by Captain Cook, in the South Pacific Ocean, and those whom the Spaniards found settled upon the Ladrones or Mariannes, in the northern hemisphere, carried the same language, customs, and opinions, from one common centre, from which they had emigrated; and that, therefore, they may be considered as scattered members of the same nation.
See Pere le Gobien’s Histoire des Isles Mariannes, book ii. or the summary of it in Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes, t. ii. p. 492—512, from which the materials for this note have been extracted.
[19]. We have here another instance of the same word being differently pronounced by the people. Captain Cook, as appears above, speaks of Olla, as the Bolabola god.
[20]. See Bougainville’s Voyage autour du Monde, p. 228., where we are told that these people sometimes navigate at the distance of more than three hundred leagues.
[21]. Hawkesworth’s Collection, vol. ii. p. 278.
[22]. See Dalrymple’s Collection, vol. i. b. 45.
[23]. See the description of the morai, in Otaheite, where the human sacrifice was offered, at which Captain Cook was present.
[24]. It is a matter of real curiosity to observe how very extensively the predilection for red feathers is spread throughout all the islands of the Pacific Ocean: and the additional circumstance mentioned in this paragraph will probably be looked upon, by those who amuse themselves in tracing the wonderful migrations of the same family or tribe, as a confirmation of that hypothesis (built, indeed, on other instances of resemblance), which considers New Guinea, and its neighbouring East India islands, from whence the Dutch bring their birds of paradise, as originally peopled by the same race, which Captain Cook found at every island from New Zealand to this new group, to which Atooi belongs.
What Mr. Sonnerat tells us about the bird of paradise, agrees perfectly with the account here given of the preserved red-birds. Speaking of the Papous, he proceeds thus: “Ils nous presenterent plusieurs especes d’oiseaux, aussi élégants par leur forme, que brillants par le éclat de leur couleurs. La dépouille des oiseaux, sert à la parure des Chefs, qui la portent attachée à leurs bonnets en forme d’aigrettes. Mais en préparant les peaux, ils coupent les pieds. Les Hollandois, qui trafiquent sur ces cotes, y achetent de ces peaux ainsi préparées, les transportent en Perse, à Surate, dans les Indes, où ils les vendent fort chère aux habitans riches, qui en font des aigrettes pour leurs turbans, et pour le casque des guerriers, et qui en parent leur chevaux. C’est de là qu’est venue l’opinion, qu’une de ces especes d’oiseaux (l’oiseau de paradis) n’a point de pattes. Les Hollandois out accrédité ces fables, qui, en jetant du merveilleux sur l’objet dont ils traffiquoient, étoient propres à le rendre plus précieux, et à en rechausser lavaleur.”—Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée, p. 154.
[25]. It is very remarkable, that, in this custom, which one would think is so unnatural, as not to be adopted by two different tribes, originally unconnected, the people of this island, and Dampier’s natives on the west side of New Holland, at such an immense distance, should be found to agree.