New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-24
NUMBER OF POLYNESIANS DECREASING.
MARKED DEGENERACY OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS
FOLLOWING GIVING UP DEEP SEA MITIGATION.

France has become alarmed at the high death
rate among the native colonists in the South Seas
that she has taken steps TO prevent their total eX
tinction. Reports from these faraway people tell
Of the ever increasing prevalence among them or
leprosy. elephantiasis and other diseases born OF
ignorance and evil customs. Fields that once pro
duced cotton and coffee returning to tho
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 decreased still further.
Three medical experts have been sent by the
French government to French Polynesia to study
the chief causes OF disease among the natives and
to check its ravages. The men selected for this
mission are DR.. II. Louvan. DR.. +. Cassiau and Dr.
I5rasfellez. They are now their way from San
Francisco TO Tahiti. the chief island of the So
ciety group, and the governmental headquarters
Of all the French establishments in the South Pa
cifc. From Tahiti. the three doctors have planned
to go to other groups. including the Marquesas the
Tuamatu and the Tibuai islands. Certain judicial
powers will be given the physicians 10 enable them
to enforce whatever sanitary laws they may
adopt.
When one considers the characteristics Of the
South Sea Islander one soon realizes how ire
mendous are the difficulties Of such a task. In
spite OF the Christian missionary who has labored
with him for nearly century. he still seems I'M
able to tell right from wrong. He has abandoned
cannibalism only to revive the secret and still
more destructive crime Of infanticide. His nature
revolts at labor, and his toll ia prompted only by
hunger and other physical wants 1t is impossible
for him to regard the marriage bond seriously I'M
petuous and OF weak will, he is prone to excuses
which render him ready prey to pestilence.
The degeneracy of the modern South Sea ISL
ander appears to have begun when his knowledge
of deep sea navigation ended. There was time
when the natives Of these widely scattered bits OF
land sailed boldly from one TO another. and car
ried on war or commerce with distant peoples
They had learned that they could trust the stars
10 guide them, and they built strong ships almost
as large as Mississippi steamers.
In the heyday OF his civilization the Polynesian
erected great temples. many OF which contained
stones almost large the stones OF the temples
aof Baalbec. In the Marquesas Islands to-day the
traveller will find great stone platforms and ter
races which show a knowledge of mechanical laws
OF which the present natives are wholly ignorant
Some OF these stones are from ten TO fifteen feet
long and FIVE and six feet thick. Their sides are
smooth, although they show no print Of the chiseI
On these Cyclopean platforms or ''pae-pae," as
they are called the natives now erect their bamboo
huts and those who still refuse Christianity say
the gods put those great stones in place.
That the Polynesian OF to-day has degenerated
from lack Of communication with the outside world
is shown by the similar fate OF domesticated ami
mails The horses and cattle that have been intro
duced sicken and die after few generations Dogs
are plentiful. but they are of low, mongrel type
The legions OF pigs said TO be indigenous but
according 10 some writer's they were taken thllher
by early ravigators. The Polynesian pig. however
"a 2 pitiful specimen when compared with the
mighty porkers Of the American prairie. Although
he is treated by his native master as pet, ac-
companies his mistress on her walks through the
village, and sleeps with the rest Of the family on
bed OF cocoa leaves yet he shows no outward signs
OF his proud position
In an extended sojourn the island Of Nuka-
hiva. the largest and most important OF the Mar
Quesas Miss Emily Wilson. Of Giroy. Cal. re-
Gently took occasion TO study the habits and GUS
toms Of the Polynesans Of to-day concerning whom
France has become so greatly alarmed Miss VIII
son was q member Of n party which was making
a quadrangular trip over the Pacific from San
Francisco to the South Sea Islands. thence to
Java, thence TO Japan. and from Japan back to
San Francisco.
Like ali Polynesans" she says "the Mar
quesans animated and impulsive. Their talk
is loud though not unpleasant, for there are hard
~ any consonants I'm their language. The French
yoke does rest easily upon their necks. and
they contribute little revenue to their masters
Their chief tribute is derived from fines imposed
upon them for the Illicit manufacture Of the fer
Inented milk OF the cocoanut. Their love for this
ntoxicant is potent that they persist in making
and drinking It every occasion
protestant missions and schools are prohibited
by the government, and the Roman Catholics seem
to have met with little success in PROSECUTING the
natives. A school is maintained at Taiohai. one
OF the villages Of Nukahiva. by Catholic Sisters
children. No sooner had the begun to teach
them than their parents came and took them away
For these children there seems other road than
that their parents have trodden. made more
hopeless by the increasing degeneracy of the
times"
Because Of the decreasing number OF children
due 10 infantcide. it is common practice for
childless couple to adopt and daughters
men and women almost old themselves
Some travellers say that twO-thirds OF the children
are killed as soon they born. and Ellis, in
his Researches" tells Of women who had killed
six eight. or ten OF their infants. For the reason
that most of the children killed females. the
proportion of women to men is about to five. a
condition which encourages the practice OF poly
andry and promotes tho disregard OF those moral
standards held sacred by Christian nations.
Although cannibalism has been suppressed by
the French since they conquered Eastern Polynesia
in the early part of the last century nevertheless
many relics OF the custom have survived Many
OF the ornaments OF the natives consist of human
hair. A good beard brings much 500. Dane
adorn themselves with bracelets and garters
OF human hair. and the natives OF the Austral
Isles adorn themselves with headdresses made of
woven muStaches.
The French Polynesian claims 10 be the most
sklful tattooer IN the world. None OF the sailors
who visit him show such elaborate designs as
he execute. Before he heard the missionaries
talk OF Christ and the one God, the native of the
Narquesas and the Paunnotu Islands regarded the
tattoo taboo sacred. The higher a mans