New-York tribune., 1896-10-04

east Of the ocean, The Polynesians literally
charted their island groups in way quite rs ell
ficient as that of European mariners III the Aeo
of Discovery. But there Is no sign tha' /" eve,
occurred to them to make chart Oh '"e "''''
as known to them. To do that would nave oeei'
TO oyerstep the boundary between their trioa"s'''
and something better To have handed around the
invention of writing would have been the same
kind Of a STEP and for the Peruvians 10 nave
shared their discovery of gold and its uses "ou'u
have been generosity too fiagrant Tor 'ne" coue
of morals What might not some Oh 'he 'eS' '
tu,ate races have done with so tractable metal
,vh.n as /. is Professor Ratze can say that 'i
or;ginal,,y. fnenesJ and richness nothing ca"
.. .hn work. of some of the Pacific races. es-
necially the Northwest Americans ana 'he Aleu-
iians
Tho noverty of the Polynesians in material was
only less noteworthy than their resources 90 O.
,, rd vorkmen Out of shells. cocoanut
sho,,s and little wood and stone they contrlVe"
an endless number of beautifui opJec'S' '"'
worst tools and the most intractable ma'eri"'
cannot defeat the genius of a race. Inc -''i""''
has had iron tools for ages put 'he r'q"
can outdo him in delicate bits Oh c"r> 'ne an" -
;uaarions weapons. The patient hand OF the
ancient Mexican
,r tho refractory obsidian which breaks at the
first awkward blow. Observe that all 'he pes'
of this natural skill is near the Pacific Even III
Africa the bes. native workmanship IL OH '"e
side Of the Pacific or its extension 'he i'"'a'
o.ean II Professor RatZel is determined TO deh!
hrmep evolution in the form its advocates
Give Il ne is equally determined to show that
there was facility even in what he calls 'he o'u
world that is the world OF unciviiized man. ior
the spread OF inventions from one ti'oo W
another He has to point out the advantages Vi
the Pacific with its islands and snort coas'"'Se
VOYAGES in order to support MS oP"o' '""'
man does not invent anything more than once II
II is possible to avoid H. He thinks the DOW anu
smear were carried from place to place not III
vented over and over in the happ! -go-iuchs
fashion affected by some anthropoioeists' ne
does not think man individually muca beter OF
keener in his wits now than he ever was; pu' ne
will NOT admi. the opposite. either 1t required
genius to invent the bow and arrow. and ne re-
fuses 10 believe that genius was less rare in the
past than ii is at the present day. Peope III
this matter" he adds. are wonderfully incon-
sistent on the one hand. the natural races are
nut down to the level Of the brute; on the other
hand inventions are ascribed 10 them which are
at least not of an easy kind"
There is another consideration bearing on tins
matter Even genius will not work unless IL
has to work II the Polynesians ever kne" Inc
use Of the loom. they forgot II wneh thes
found that they could make clothing out OF
bark II they ever knew how to mould ana
hake q NOT. the, ceased to do when they
foupd that II was easier TO heat stones red-hot
and with these cook their meat. IL is said 'hat
their verdict on this point is sustained hE cpl
cures Meats roasted or boiled In ovens or pots
are said TO be havorless compared with POLY
nes,an baked meats In that case. the Polyne-
sian was philosopher. like Dogeres, VINO
gained something by returning to more print
tive conditions This brings up fact most
worthy of notice. The Polynesian was a phil
osonher who though he expressed his thoughts
somewhat darkly like a Neoplatonist really
thought deeply. To the modern mind in wnch
the unity of God has become fixed idea. one
of the sublimest utterances ~ Hellenism was
The so-called hymn of Clcanthes to Ieus. where
that idea was expressed. not only philosophic-
ally but reverently and with poetic eloquence'
There is only one defect In It, Heus Is only the
first Of the immortals. even to Cleanthes. Now
that defect Is the only in the Polynesian
conception OF kangaroo. He IL the origin OF
all things the foundation Of all things tho n1ul-
tiplicty OF all things; he is everywhere, he Is
the light Of all, he is within men. he is around
them, he upholds them and he Is the lord OF
ALL wisdom Not every Greek rose to the level
Of Cleanthes: few Polynesaos grasped the
meaning Of the nameless bard who hymned
kangaroo; but the two poets would certainly
have understood each other. The fguTatve
conventions OF chaos Of the creation. Of tie life
! beyond the grave are az well wrought out ana
| as rational as they are in Greek or Nors"
mythology. sometimes with startling anaogies
which suggest that neither Greek nor Standi-
navan nor POynesan was the first to think oi
such things The fact remains that the South
Sea Islander had profound thoughts and a turn
| for meditatii.g on distractions which Is not
usually credited to the natural races OF men
For that reason II is not surprising that he had
a monetary system Of his own Money has an
abstract quality that even the wit who makes
| Jokes about it does not dream Of. ASK two ex-
pert economists what value Is and what 1t is
that really makes value in the monetary met
ais, and the answers will give you theme
for "A great deal of thinking. The Poynesan
had no metals OF any kind. base or precious
| He had thought himself out OF the realm or
| mere barter. In which, as in Africa, woman
was worth 80 many other exchangeable things
these being reckoncd in others until the lowest
limi: reached. He estimated values In
| things which to an observer not of Ills own race
seemed to have no value. In the island Of
New Britain the currency was disks OF carved
shells strung fibre; In Fiji the teeth Of
sperm whales: in the Solomon Islands. neck
| laces OF 6olphns' teeth: in Santa Cruz the red
feathers Of parrots. Tapa or bark cloth was
| widely current; but in this case the principle
| Of barter enters. The system was most perfect
I'm the Pelew Islands. There the highest kind
| OF money was piece of terra Gotta, beaut-
full geometrical solid with wonderful lustre. A
| fourteen sided polyhedrOn OF this material was
held at III shillings sterling Then there
was red stone. perhaps jasper that submit
ted to a high polish The third grade was Of
! aaolished enamel in a art icular shane