Maori and Polynesian : Their Origin, History and Culture

London: Hutchinson & Co.. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1907. Hardcover. Spine faded. Some rubbing and 4mm tear to cloth along head of spine. Some staining to boards. A few spots of foxing.; Colonial edition. "Hutchinson's Colonial Library". xxxi, [1], 300, [4 (advertisements)] pages + 16 plates. Red cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine. Contents: The Footprints of Primitive Man in Monumental Stone; The Meaning of the Colossal-Stone Record; European-Like Races on the Colossal-Stone Route; Traces of European-Like Peoples in the Pacific; When did the Caucasions Migrate into the Pacific, and When was the Pacific Closed?; The North Pacific and the Polynesians; The Stratification of the Maori as seen in his Customs; The Stratification of the Maori as seen in his Language; The Last Migration into Polynesia; Polynesian Religious and Mythological Ideas; Polynesian Theogony and Mythology; Polynesian Arts and Industries - The Primitive and the Architectural; The Polynesian Textile, Military, Agricultural, and Medical Arts; Polynesian Art - Carving and Tattooing; Polynesian Art - Carving and Design; Polynesian Art - Dance, Games, and Music; Polynesian Art- The Literary; The Antiquity of Man in Polynesia, as seen in his Traditions and Beliefs; The Antiquity of Man in Polynesia, as seen in his Culture; Recapitulation and Conclusion. "Three problems have confronted observers and theorists concerning Polynesia since the time of Cook. The first is the origin of the Europeanlike face and figure of so many of its inhabitants. Cook and the other Pacific voyagers were struck by it. And Crozet puts it very clearly in his account of the Maoris of the Bay of Islands: 'It is most certain that the whites are the aborigines. Their color is, generally speaking, like that of the people of Souterhn Europe, and I saw several who had red hair.' 'There were some who were as white as our sailors, and we often saw on our ships a tall, young man, 5f.11in. high, who by his colour and features might easily have passed for a European.'" - page 256. [Reference: c.f. Bagnall B1548 ("Colonial Edition" not in Bagnall.)] .