The Pacific Islands lying east from the Melanesian Islands, beginning with New Zealand and stretching to Easter Island, were occupied by Polynesians. The best known of their island groups were New Zealand, the Society Islands, Samoa, and the Hawaiian Islands. These islands are either volcanic islands or coral islands, and the natural animal and vegetable life occurring on them is less varied than on the great islands lying nearer to the Asiatic or Australian continents.

The Polynesians present a fine type. They are often tall and well built; their skins, though brown, are frequently light; the features are regular and the faces handsome. They are quick and intelligent, think and reason well, take new ideas readily, and are fond of beauty. They were barbarians, but had made so much progress that they were at the border-line of civilization. Living in a mass of islands that presented few natural resources, they had made the most of everything nature gave them.

Many Polynesian tribes tattoo. Elaborate patterns are pricked into the skin, with lines of needles set side by side and dipped in color. The New Zealanders tattooed their faces with curious curved-line patterns, each line had its proper place, and the patterns probably had a meaning. The Marquesas Islanders covered their bodies with elaborate and graceful patterns. The process was painful and only a small space was done at one time; the whole work required years.

Polynesian dress differed somewhat with the region. In New Zealand fine, soft, and flexible robes and blankets were woven of the native flax. In Hawaii the king and chiefs had wonderful feather cloaks which hung to the knees or even to the ankles. The little feathers of which these were composed were red and yellow; a garment composed only of yellow feathers could be worn only by the king; when both colors of feathers were used, they were arranged in diamond-shaped or other ornamental forms, with spots and lines of dark purple or black feathers. Besides the cloaks, there were tippets of feathers, which were generally worn by lower chiefs, who had not, or might not have, feather cloaks. In these feather garments the dress was made of a sort of netted foundation, into which these bright feathers were worked. Chiefs also had wonderful helmets of wickerwork which were covered with feathers. The helmet might be simple, just fitting the head, or large, ridged, or crested, and rising high above the head. In some islands the clothing consisted of a fringed girdle hanging from the waist to the knees.

But everywhere in Polynesia the common dress was made of tapa. This was a kind of paper or cloth beaten out of the bark of certain trees. The bark was removed from the tree and soaked in water; it was laid upon a large piece of wood and beaten with a sort of club or mallet. This was made of hard wood and was round at one end for being taken in the hand; the remainder was squared, and the four faces were either smooth or ribbed by longitudinal grooves. By this beating the wood was separated into its fibres, and these were mashed together into a sheet of firm paper or cloth. This tapa differs with the tree from the bark of which it is made. Some is thin and dark brown; that from the bark of the breadfruit tree is fawn-colored; that from the paper-mulberry, best and finest of all, is beautifully white. The women were so expert at beating tapa that single strips, four yards wide and two hundred yards long, were beaten. Such cloth might be left plain, or it might be stained with colors, or it might be stamped with patterns. Wooden blocks or strips of bamboo were carved with designs which were smeared with color and stamped on the cloth; sometimes ferns were laid in coloring matter, then the form transferred to the tapa.

The two chief food supplies in Polynesia were breadfruit and cocoanuts; yams (much like sweet potatoes) and bananas were plenty. A favorite food in places is poi, a sort of gruel or pudding made from the root of taro. It was not eaten with a spoon, but the finger was dipped into it and stirred around to get a good load of the sticky stuff on it, when it was stuck into the mouth and sucked clean. Fish were much eaten, though not all kinds nor at all times.

The Polynesian oven was a hole, three or four feet across, and a foot deep, dug in the ground. The bottom was lined with stones, which were covered with dry leaves, upon which a brisk fire was built. When the stones were red-hot, the dust and ashes were brushed out of the oven, and the potatoes, yams, and taro, or the pigs, dogs, fish, and birds were wrapped in leaves, and laid upon the hot stones. When all the food to be cooked had been neatly placed, leaves were laid above them, and hot stones on these. All was then covered in with leaves and earth, and left until thoroughly baked through.

Many of the strange peoples we have considered are filthy; Polynesians were unusually cleanly, and bathed frequently. In some islands surf bathing was the chief sport. Every traveller to Hawaii has described the practice. Babies were taken into the sea by their mothers within two or three days of their birth, and could swim as soon as they could walk. Old and young, men and women, bathe in the surf, and the heavier the waves the greater the sport. The surf-bathing board was five or six feet long, and a foot wide; it was carefully polished. Taking his board and pushing it before him, the man swam far out to sea, diving under the billows as he met them. When far enough out, he lay himself on the end of the board and waited for a great wave. When it came, he poised himself on its very crest, and paddling with hands and feet rode in upon it almost to the shore.

The Polynesians were warriors, and their battles were cruel and bloody. They rarely ventured into battle until their gods, through their priests, promised them success. To prepare themselves for war they practised in warlike arts. Thus they slung stones at marks, threw javelins, and wrestled. It is said that, in slinging, they were able to strike a small stick at fifty yards’ distance, four times out of five. In their javelin practice, the man at whom the weapon was thrown often caught it and hurled it back; some were so skilled that they “would allow six men to throw their javelins at them, which they would either catch and return on their assailants, or so dextrously turn aside that they fell harmless to the ground.” In going to war, a chief summoned all his friends and subordinates. When they had gathered, the gods—especially the war gods—were brought out to assist and encourage them. During the battle there was great noise and confusion; effort was made to kill the great chiefs of the enemy, so that their followers might be discouraged. Many were killed. Survivors fled to some fortress, or the mountains, or found safety in one of the curious “places of refuge,” within whose sacred precincts no harm could be done them.

For weapons, the Hawaiians had spears of great length, javelins, clubs which were used both for thrusting and striking, a hard wood dagger, and slings often made of human hair. On the Kingsmill Islands the natives made weapons, in many shapes or sizes, of wooden shafts, along the sides of which great numbers of sharks’ teeth were securely lashed. These weapons were used both for thrusting and striking, and were fearful things on naked bodies. In those same islands, and on account of these shark-tooth weapons, the natives had curious protective clothing or armor of cocoanut fibre.

Many Polynesians were cannibals: some of them dreadful cannibals. Their eating of human flesh was often connected with their religion. They had many gods, whom they represented by idols. The Hawaiian war god is an example. His idol was an image four or five feet high; the upper part was of wickerwork covered with red feathers; the hideous face was supplied with a great mouth with triple rows of dog’s or shark’s teeth; the eyes were of shell, and upon the head was a helmet crested with long tresses of human hair.