Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-02-26
DYING P%OLYNEsIANS.
The Degeneracy of south Sea Island
ers IL Giving France Much
Concern.

Concern.
France has become so alarmed at
the high death rate among the native
colonists in the South seas that she
has taken steps to prevent their total
extinction, says the New York Tribune.
Reports from these far-away people tell
Of the ever~-increasing prevalence
among them of leprosy, elephantiasis
and other diseases boyn of ignorance
and evil customs. Fields hat once
produced cotton and coffee are re-
turning to the jungle from the lack
of hands to till them. The revenues
of these island possessions, which have
long been only a fraction of the sums
expended upon them, have now de-
creased still further.
Three medical experts have been
sent by the French government to
Polynesia to study the chief causes OF
disease among the natives, and to
check it's ravages. Tit men selected
for this mission r DR., H. Louvan,
DR.. F. Cassiau and DIR. Grasfellez. They
are now on their way from San Fran
cisco to Tahiti, the chief island of the
Society group, and the governmental
headquarters of all French establish
ments in the south Pacific. From Tahi-
ii, the three doctors have planned to
go to other groups, including the Mar
quesas, the Tuamatu and the Tibuai
islands. Certain judicial powers will
be given the physicians to enable them
to enforce whatever sanitary laws they
may adopt.
When one considers the characters
tics Of the South Sea islander one
soon realizes how tremendous are the
difficulties of such a task. In spite Of
the Christian missionary, who has la
bored with him for nearly a century,
he still seems unable to tell right
from wrong. He has abandoned In
nibalism only to revive the secret and
still more destructive vice of infanti-
eide. His nature revolts at labor, and
his toll is prompted only by hunger
and other physical wants. 1t is i'm
possible for him to regard the mar
riage bond seriously. Impetuous and
of weak will, he is prone to excuses
which render him a ready prey to
pestilence.
The degeneracy of the modern South
Sea islander appears to have begun
when his knowledge of deep sea naviga-
ton ended. There was a time when
the natives of these widely scattered
bits of land sailed boldly from one
to another. and carried on war or
commerce with distant peoples. They
had learned that they could trust the
stars to guide them, and they built
strong ships almost as large as Miss
issippi steamers.
In the heyday of his civilization the
Polynesian erected great temples,
many of which contained stones al
most as large as the stones of the
| temple OF Baalbec. In the Marquesas
islands to-day the traveller will find
great stone platforms and terraces,
which show a knowledge of mechani-
cal laws, of which the present natives
are wholly ignorant. Some of these
stones are from 10 to is feet long and
five and six feet thick. Their sides
oAO oAhOOtu, dlluOu6u lHOy ouOW uU
print of the chisel. On these Cyclic
pean platforms, or "paepae," as they
are called, the natives now erect their
bamboo huts, and those who still re-
fuse Christianity say the gods put
those great stones in place.
That the Polynesian of to-day has
degenerated from lack Of communica-
ton with the outside world is shown
by the similar fate of domesticated
animals. The horses and cattle that
have been introduced sicken and die
after a few generations. Dogs are
plentiful, but they are of a low, mon
grel type. The legions of pigs are
| said to be indigenous, but according
to some writers they were taken
thither by early ~navigators. The Poly
nesian pig, however, is a pitiful speci-
men when compared with the mighty
porkers of the American prairie. AL
though he Is treated by his native mas
ter as a pet, accompanies his mistress
on her walks through the village, and
sleeps with the rest of the family on
/ a bed of cocoa leaves. vet he shows No