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POLYNESIA, MELANESIA, MICRONESIA (q.v.)

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 441 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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POLYNESIA, See also:MELANESIA, See also:MICRONESIA (q.v.) . and See also:Chinese," may be said to converge. Careful investigations have supported the theory that Micronesia was peopled largely from the Philippines or some portion of the See also:Malay See also:Archipelago at a much later See also:period than the Polynesian See also:migration. The Micronesians then are probably of Malay stock much modified by See also:early Polynesian crossings, and probably, within historic times, by Papuan and even See also:Japanese and Chinese migrations. While their See also:general physique approximates to the Polynesian type, they are often characterized by a stunted See also:form and a dark complexion. In this See also:review of the inhabitants of the Pacific islands an imaginary ethnological See also:line has been See also:drawn See also:round it so as to include none but the branches of the two See also:great divisions. But on the See also:borders of the region, often without real boundary lines, are grouped other peoples, the true See also:Malays, the Indonesians or pre-Malays with the See also:Negritos to the westward and the Australians, who are generally admitted to be a distinct See also:race. Of these races detailed See also:information will be found under their several headings. Prehistoric Remains.—One of the most obscure questions with which the ethnologist has to See also:deal is that of the prehistoric remains which occur in different and widely separated parts of the oceanic region. The most remarkable of these are on See also:Easter See also:Island, where immense platforms built of dressed See also:stone without See also:mortar are found, together with stone images. Similar remains have been found on See also:Pitcairn Island. On the island of Tongatabu in the See also:Tonga See also:group, there is a See also:monument of great stone blocks which must have been brought thither by See also:sea.

In some of the See also:

Caroline Islands, again, there are extensive remains of stone buildings, and in the See also:Marianas stone monuments occur. No native traditions assign origin to these remains, nor has any See also:complete explanation of their existence been offered. G. See also:Turner, Nineteen Years in Polynesia (See also:London, 1861) ; T. See also:West, Ten Years in See also:South Central Polynesia (London, 1865) ; J. Brenchley, Cruise of the " Curacoa " among the South Sea Islands during 1865 (London, 1873) ; W. See also:Coote, Western Pacific Islands (London, 1883) ; H. H. See also:Romilly, The Western Pacific and New See also:Guinea (London, 1887) ; H. Stonehewer See also:Cooper, The Islands of the Pacific (London, 1888; earlier See also:editions, 188o, &c., were under the See also:title See also:Coral Lands) ; F. J. See also:Moss, Through Atolls and Islands (London, 1889) ; W.

T. Wawa, The South Sea Islanders and the See also:

Queensland Labour See also:Trade (1889) ; G. Haurigot, See also:Les Etablissements See also:francais en See also:Oceania (See also:Paris, 1891); B. F. S. B. See also:Powell, In See also:Savage Isles and Settled Lands (London, 1892) ; " Sundowner," Rambles in Polynesia (London, 1897) ; M. M. See also:Shoe-maker, Islands of the See also:Southern Seas (New See also:York, 1898) ; See also:Joachim See also:Graf Pfeil, Studien . aus der Siidsee (See also:Brunswick, 1899); See also:Robert See also:Louis See also:Stevenson, In the South Seas (London, 1900); A. R. Colquhoun, The Mastery of the Pacific (London, 1902) ; G. Wegener, Deutschland in der Siidsee (See also:Bielefeld, 1903); A.

Kramer, See also:

Hawaii, Ostmikronesien, and See also:Samoa (See also:Stuttgart, 1906) ; J. D. See also:Rogers, See also:Australasia, vol. vi. of the See also:Historical See also:Geography of the See also:British Colonies, edited by See also:Sir C. P. See also:Lucas (See also:Oxford, 1907) ; T. A. See also:Coghlan, Statistical See also:Account of the Seven Colonies of Australasia (See also:Sydney). With especial reference to the natives and their See also:languages see Sir G. See also:Grey, Polynesian See also:Mythology (London, 1855) ; W. Gill, Myths and Songs of the South Pacific (London, 1876) ; J. D. See also:Lang, Origin and Migrations of the Polynesian Nation (Sydney, 1877); A.

See also:

Lesson, Les Polynisiens (Paris, 188o seq.) ; R. H. See also:Codrington, The Melanesian Languages (Oxford, 1885) ; E. See also:Reeves, See also:Brown Men and See also:Women (London, 1898) ; J. Gaggin, Among the See also:Man-Eaters (London, 1899) ; A. C. Haddon, See also:Head-hunters, See also:Black, See also:White and Brown (London, 1902) ; D.See also:Macdonald, The Oceanic Languages: their Grammatical Structure, Vocabulary and Origin (London, 1907) ; J. See also:Macmillan Brown, See also:Maori and Polynesian (London, 1907), and the articles POLYNESIA ; MELANESIA. And with especial reference to natural See also:history, J. D. See also:Hooker, A Lecture on Insular Floras (London, 1868) ; E. See also:Drake del See also:Castillo, Remarques sur la flore de la Polynesiie (Paris, 1890) ; H.

B. Guppy, Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific, 1896-1899 (London, 1903 seq.).

End of Article: POLYNESIA, MELANESIA, MICRONESIA (q.v.)

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