The eastern Fijians stand in considerable contrast to the interior tribes and are the most Polynesian in appearance (pl. 15). They have lighter skins, greater stature, and heavier musculature. Their heads are broader, as are their faces and jaws; their noses are larger, narrower, and higher bridged, and their chins are more pronounced.
The coastal sample might be called intermediate or a more even blend of Melanesian and Polynesian.
The northwestern people resemble the coastal tribes. This means they show fewer departures in either a Melanesian or Polynesian direction. This also means they do not tell us whether the legendary ancestors, who are supposed to have first landed in Fiji on the northwest coast of Viti Levu,[23] were Melanesian or Polynesian. These data may mean one of three things: (1) the Fijian tradition of a landing at this place eight or ten generations ago is groundless, (2) the immigration did take place but whatever racial traits predominated, whether Melanesian or Polynesian, have been homogenized and obscured by subsequent intermixture and by movements back and forth on Viti Levu, (3) the landing did occur but the ancestors were already a Melanesian-Polynesian blend when they arrived.
LITERATURE CITED
Birdsell. J. B.
1948. Racial Origin of the Extinct Tasmanians. Records of the Queen
Victoria Museum, Tasmania, Vol. II, No. 3.
Churchill, W.
1911. The Polynesian Wanderings. Carnegie Institute of Washington,
Publ. No. 134, Washington.
Derrick, R. A.
1951. History of Fiji. Printing and Stationery Dept., Suva, Fiji.
Fornander, A.
1878. The Polynesian Race. London.
Hocart, A. M.
1929. Lau Islands, Fiji. Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bull. 62,
Honolulu.