There are indications that the Pacific world had an important ancient
history, and these multiply as our knowledge of that world increases.
The wide diffusion of Malay dialects in the Pacific islands suggests the
controlling influence by which that ancient history was directed. The
ancient remains at Easter Island are known; two of the "great images"
found there are now in the British Museum. All who have examined this
island believe these remains "were the work of a former race," and that
it had formerly "an abundant population." It is not generally known that
antiquities more important than these exist on many of the other islands
of the Pacific Ocean.
An educated and very intelligent gentleman, who has lived many years on
one of these islands, and visited a considerable portion of Polynesia,
finds that the Pacific has antiquities which deserve attention. He has
sent me papers containing descriptions of some of them, taken from the
diary of an intelligent and observant shipmaster, much of whose life as
a mariner has been passed on the Pacific. These papers were prepared for
publication in a newspaper at Sydney. The gentleman sending them says in
his letter: "These researches are not very minute or accurate, but they
indicate that there is a vast field ready for exploration in the
Pacific, as well as in Central America and Egypt."
The papers to which I refer begin with ruins observed in the island of
Ascension or Fanipe, and describe "the great temple" at Metallanine.
This was a large edifice, well built of stone, and connected with canals
and earth-works. "Vaults, passages, and platforms, all of basaltic
stones," are mentioned; also, "below the pavement of the main
quadrangle, on opposite sides, are two passages or gateways, each about
ten feet square, pierced through the outer wall down to the waters of
the canal." Within the walls is a "central pyramidal chamber or temple,"
with a tree growing on it. The whole ruin is now covered with trees and
other vegetation.
Other ruins exist in the island, one or two of which are described.
"Some are close upon the sea-shore, others are on the tops of solitary
hills, and some are found on plateaus or cleared spaces far inland, but
commanding views of the sea. One of the latter kind is a congeries of
ruinous heaps of square stones, covering at least five or six acres. It
is situated on a piece of table-land, surrounded by dense forest
growths, and itself covered with low jungle. There is the appearance of
a ditch, in the form of a cross, at the intersecting angles of which are
tall mounds of ruin, of which the original form is now undistinguishable
beyond the fact that the basements, constructed of large stones,
indicate that the structures were square. The natives can not be induced
to go near this place, although it abounds in wild pigeons, which they
are extremely fond of hunting."
These ruined structures were not built by barbarous people such as now
inhabit the island of Ascension. There is no tradition relating to their
origin or history among the present inhabitants, who, it is said,
attribute them to "mauli," evil spirits. The "great temple" was occupied
for a time, "several generations ago," according to the natives, by the
shipwrecked crew of a Spanish buccaneer; and relics of these outlaws are
still found in its vaults, which they used as storehouses.
On many low islands of the Marshall and Gilbert groups are curious
pyramids, tall and slender, built of stones. The natives regard them
with superstitious fear. The author of these papers, being a mariner,
suggests that they are "landmarks or relics of ancient copper-colored
voyagers of the Polynesian race during their great migrations."
Remarkable structures of this kind are found on Tapituea, one of the
Kingsmill islands, and on Tinian, one of the Ladrones, where, also,
remarkable Cyclopean structures are found. They are solid, truncated
pyramidal columns, generally about twenty feet high and ten feet square
at the base. The monuments on Tinian were seen by M. Arago, who
accompanied Bougainville. According to his description they form two
long colonnades, the two rows being thirty feet apart, and seeming to
have once been connected by something like roofing. On Swallow's Island,
some twelve degrees eastward of Tapituea, is a pyramid similar in
construction; and on the west side of this island is "a vast
quadrangular inclosure of stone, containing several mounds, or probably
edifices of some kind, of which the form and contents are not known by
reason of their being buried under drift-sand and guano."
On Strong's Island, and others connected with it, are ruins similar to
those at Metallanine. On Lele, which is separated from Strong's Island
at the harbor by a very narrow channel, there is a "conical mountain
surrounded by a wall some twenty feet high, and of enormous thickness."
The whole island appears to present "a series of Cyclopean inclosures
and lines of great walls every where overgrown with forest." Some of the
inclosures are parallelograms 200 by 100 feet in extent; one is much
larger. The walls are generally twelve feet thick, and within are
vaults, artificial caverns, and secret passages. No white man is allowed
to live on Lele, and strangers are forbidden to examine the ruins, in
which, it is supposed, is concealed the plunder taken by the natives
from captured or stranded ships. On the southwest side of the harbor, at
Strong's Island, "are many canals lined with stone. They cross each
other at right angles, and the islands between their intersections were
artificially raised, and had tall buildings erected on them, some of
which are still entire. One quadrangular tower, about forty feet high,
is very remarkable. The forest around them is dense and gloomy; the
canals are broken and choked with mangroves." Not more than 500 people
now inhabit these islands; their tradition is, that an ancient city
formerly stood around this harbor, mostly on Lele, occupied by a
powerful people whom they call "Anut," and who had large vessels, in
which they made long voyages east and west, "many moons" being required
for one of these voyages.
Great stone structures on some of Navigator's Islands, of which the
natives can give no account, are mentioned without being particularly
described. Some account is given of one remarkable structure. On a
mountain ridge 1500 feet above the sea, and near the edge of a precipice
500 feet high, is a circular platform built of huge blocks of volcanic
stone. It is 150 feet in diameter, and about 20 feet high. On one side
was the precipice, and on the other a ditch that may have been
originally 20 feet deep. Trees six feet in diameter are now growing in
the ruins of this platform. Remarkable ruins exist on some of the
Marquesas Islands, but they have not been clearly described.
At first, when these antiquities were noticed by seamen, it was
suggested that they were the remains of works constructed by the old
buccaneers; but closer examination soon put aside this theory. Neither
the buccaneers, nor any other people from Europe, would have constructed
such works; and, besides, it is manifest that they were ruins before any
crew of buccaneers sailed on the Pacific. The remains on Easter Island
were described by Captain Cook. It has now been discovered that such
remains exist at various points throughout Polynesia, and greater
familiarity with the islands will very likely bring to light many that
have not yet been seen by Europeans. The author of these papers,
referring to the old discarded suggestion relative to the buccaneers,
says: "Centuries of European occupation would have been required for the
existence of such extensive remains, which are, moreover, not in any
style of architecture practiced by people of the Old World."
It is stated that similar stone-work, consisting of "walls, strongholds,
and great inclosures," exists on the eastern side of Formosa, which is
occupied by a people wholly distinct in race from the Mongols who
invaded and occupied the other side. The influence to which these
ancient works are due seems to have pervaded Polynesia from the
Marquesas Islands at the east, to the Ladrone and Carolina Islands at
the west, and what is said of the present inhabitants of Ascension
Island might have a wider application, namely, "They create on the mind
of a stranger the impression of a people who have degenerated from
something higher and better." At a few points in Polynesia a small
portion of the people show Mongol traits. Dark-colored people, evidently
of the Papuan variety, somewhat mixed with the brown race it may be, are
found at various points in larger numbers; but the great body of the
Polynesians are a brown race, established (at a very remote period,
perhaps) by a mixture of the Papuans with the Malays. Now take into
consideration the former existence of a great Malayan empire, the wide
distribution of Malay dialects on the Pacific, and the various
indications that there was formerly in Polynesia something higher and
better in the condition of the people, and the ancient history indicated
by these ruins will not seem mysterious, nor shall we feel constrained
to treat as incredible the Central American and Peruvian traditions that
anciently strangers came from the Pacific world in ships to the west
coast of America for commercial intercourse with the civilized countries
existing here.
Ruins similar in character are found in the Sandwich Islands, but here
the masonry is occasionally superior to that found elsewhere. A
gentleman interested in archaeological inquiries gives the following
account of a Hawaiian ruin which he visited in the interior, about
thirty miles from Hilo. He says he went with several companions to the
hill of Kukii, which he describes as follows:
"The hill is so regular in its outline that it appears like a work of
art, a giant effort of the Mound-Builders. Its general form resembles
very much the pyramid of Cholulu in Mexico, and from this fact I felt a
great interest in climbing it. We proceeded, Conway, Eldhardt, Kaiser,
and I, on foot up the grassy slope of the hill. There was an absence of
all volcanic matter; no stone on the hill except what had been brought
there by the hand of man. As we arrived near the summit we came upon
great square blocks of hewn stone overgrown by shrubbery, and on
reaching the summit we found that it had been leveled and squared
according to the cardinal points, and paved. We found two square blocks
of hewn stone imbedded in the earth in an upright position, some fifteen
feet apart, and ranging exactly east and west. Over the platform was
rank grass, and a grove of cocoanuts some hundred years old. Examining
farther, I found that the upper portion of the hill had been terraced;
the terraces near the summit could be distinctly traced, and they had
evidently been faced with hewn stone. The stones were in perfect squares
of not less than three feet in diameter, many of them of much greater
size. They were composed of a dark vitreous basalt, the most durable of
all stone. It is remarkable that every slab was faced and polished upon
every side, so that they could fit together like sheets of paper. They
reminded me much of the polished stones in some of the walls of
Tiahuanuco, and other ruins in Peru. Many of the blocks were lying
detached; probably some had been removed; but there were still some
thirty feet of the facing on the lower terrace partly in position. But
all showed the ravages of time and earthquakes, and were covered with
accumulated soil, grass, and shrubbery. Conway and myself, in descending
the hill, had our attention attracted by a direct line of shrubbery
running from the summit to the base of the hill, on the western side, to
the cocoanut grove below. Upon examination, we found it to be the
remains of a stairway, evidently of hewn stone, that had led from the
foot of the hill to the first terrace, a height of nearly 300 feet.
Within this stairway, near the base, we found a cocoanut-tree growing,
more than 200 years old, the roots pressing out the rocks. The site for
a temple is grand and imposing, and the view extensive, sweeping the
ocean, the mountains, and the great lava plain of Puna. It was also
excellent in a military point of view as a lookout. From the summit it
appeared as an ancient green island, around which had surged and rolled
a sea of lava; and so it evidently has been.
"By whom and when was this hill terraced and these stones hewn? There is
a mystery hanging around this hill which exists nowhere else in the
Sandwich Islands. The other structures so numerously scattered over the
group are made of rough stone; there is no attempt at a terrace; there
is no flight of steps leading to them; there is no hewn or polished
stone, nor is there any evidence of the same architectural skill
evinced. They are the oldest ruins yet discovered, and were evidently
erected by a people considerably advanced in arts, acquainted with the
use of metallic instruments, the cardinal points, and some mathematical
knowledge. Were they the ancestors of the present Hawaiians, or of a
different race that has passed away?"
He inquired of the oldest natives concerning the history of this ruin,
but "they could give only vague and confused traditions in regard to it,
and these were contradictory. The only point on which they agreed was
that it had never been used within the memory of man." They also said
there was another old structure of the same kind in Kona, whose history
is lost. The language of the Sandwich Islands is so manifestly a dialect
of the Malayan tongue, that the influence of the Malays must have been
paramount in these islands in ancient times.