The sun., 1916-11-12
SOME NEW o
A Remarkable Survey Of the Myths Of
the Oceanic PcOplps.

OF All Races ,Marshall Jones Com
pany, BOSTON, Volume TX. Occdnic.
by RoL,ND II. DIXON. professor of
anthropolugy in Ila ward University,
systemat!zcs the myths OF Polynesia.
Melancsia, %1ndonesia. Micronesia and
Australia. Professor D.xon's volume
differs from the two that have pre-
ceded 1t in hat the legends of these
island peoples arc materials Of history.
They are Il means of tracing undated
migrations and racial contacts:
The origin. evolution aud nfnllstion Of
the various peoples ~ Ocennia IL n prob
lem whose completely becomes more and
more apparent with increasing knowledge.
While anthropologis'. are still far from
satisfactorily explaining these matters, IT
In patent to all that the rtinic history Of
the region Involves the recognition OF a
series OF waves Of migration from tho
westward. each spreading Itself more or
less completely over ~ predecessors. inodi-
Tying them and IN turn modified by them.
until the result u q CON pieS web the un-
Raveiilng Of which leads no inevitably back
70 the Asiatic mainland. II IL obvious
that. while migrations on land are not
necessarily conditioned by tho stage OF
culture of . people. In an island area.
especially when the islands are separated
BY wide stretches q. ocean. movement IL
Impossible. or at least very difficult. for
peoples who have attained only the rudi-
nsnts OF the art OF scamanship.
In the eastern regions the difficulties
were less than In the more detached
islands. Some land masses now sepa-
rated by water were once continuous
territory. Blu the discoveries and
settlers % the cmoter isles OF tho
Pacific must have been u race of bold
nrN hardy adventurinc voyagcrs.
These Islands were thus probably. says
Prof. Dixon. "of all the occupied por-
tons of the globe the last to lie
settled
The literature of what Is sometimes
rather Economically called Occania is
huge and diversified. from little ''popu-
lar writings to learned and laborcd
tones into which has bcen condensed
the study of scholars lifetime. The
pamphlets alone on the languages and
dialects of the islanders. minute studies
OF the history and tricks of speech.
would fill a large library. Prof. Dixon's
photography exhibits tho character ~
this literature. II pcrusal of II will
convince the reader u It Of the COM
prehensiveness Of the survey and Of the
usefulness Of this work In bringing into
order about "A fixed standpoint all this
product Of specialized study. So. while
h book Is In n sense not Scientific"
II is based upon the best knowledge
In a field" yet far from final settle
ment. Selected and arranged by an
expert who Is no slave to the mere |
processes of science, hut eager for
tra a., .Asss .-- I
represents the popular" style Of pre-.
sentation at its extreme best. The
author points out that:
At present the available material, Is ST.
- imperfect that all conclusions must bs
accepted with reserve. Ilttls.
comparatively. Of vha, has been gathered
has been recorded In the isnguige Of the
people themselves. Mlsunderstandings con.
scious or unconscious colorlng Of state
ments to accord with prcconcclvcd idea,
Of what the people uush, to think, state.
ments made by natives VINO obiiginsiy |
tell tn" Investigator Just what they think
NJ want. to h"sr--thcse and other errors
must he eliminated.
All these people have myths Of
origins and the delugc. but their
cosmogony IL not uniform. Polynesian
myths of this type. for example, scpa-
rate into two forms. one which pre-
sents a genealogical or evolutionary
development Of cosmos and the gods
IRON an original chaos, and another in
which man Is created by deities. In
the Melancsinn area cosmogonic myth
IL least developed; in the main tho
earth seems to be regarded az having
always existed in its present state.
BUT even here are stories of n world
covered with water. out of which a
sreat sea serpent caused the lane to
arte. and Of the creation OF the human
race out OF wood or mud, div!nely
hreathed upon. or the creators blood.
sometimes a dove lays two eggs which
hatch a man and n woman or the an
cestors OF all mankind emerge from
eggs Of a tortoise.
In the Micronesian area various be-
liefs arc held. The old fables are WITH
ated by additions from missionary
teachings. In the Carolines they tell
OF the existence. In the beginning, O.
the sea and the sky. Out Of tile sky
q great tree grew down till IL,
branches touched the water. In its
boughs was born n woman, to whom
Yelofaz. a sky deity. gave sand. which
she strcwed upon the sea, forming the
earth. In h little island OF Nauru.
Pleasant Island. or the equator, lust
west OF the Gilbert group. there In
telling OF a time when the world was
water n the only living thing was
Areop-Enap, the Ancient Spider, who
noatcd In space. Areop-Enap, coming
upon a great musscl. wanted to crawl
INTO II. but there was no opening. He
struck II. 1t sounded hollow. Repeat
ing a charm. ne succeeded at last in
prying apart h mighty waves. In
ne crept; but the sun and moon were
not yet made. and all was dark. In
the hollow he discovered a snail. Put
ting 1t under his arm, he slept three
days. Power from him went into the
email. Then he found another. larger
snail. which he treated in the same
way as the first.
Then to the smaller creature he
said: Gar you not lift the roof a lit
tie so that We may sit up?" The snail
did SO, m Areop-Enap set it up as tho
moon. The larger creature then raised
the vault a little higher, and became
the sun. Salty sweat from the toilin9
body collected in the bottom OF the
shell and made the sea. The top o,
the shell Ia the sky.
For Polynesia the author sets In
order the MAUI cycle and collects
miscellaneous tales. In Melancsia we
have added to the two c~lassihcations.
myths. OF origins" and ''miscellane-
49, ~