Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land, 1830-1840 - Page 30
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[Page 30]
[Transcriber's note : the following paragraph is marked over with an X]
Spanish [indecipherable] in America, and which recent events have made manifest. My object is to shew that as the [indecipherable] named Emperor took refuge in a canoe, others might have done the same, in order to escape
Spanish oppression, & then it is not unreasonable to suppose that some of the canoes were driven to sea, and driven along by periodical winds, [indecipherable] in with the large groups of islands to the westward. This conjecture also gathers strength from the circumstances that the canoes formed at Othaheite and the islands are constructed precisely on the same principles as were those of the Mexicans & Peruvians. I cannot account for the manner in which the natives of New Zeeland could advance so far in the act of construction as to be able to build their large war canoes, which are most inferior in workmanship to any thing that could be done in Europe. It may be that the New Zeelanders were originally inhabitants of the province of Chili, and if so, he should not find it very difficult to account for their superiority over the other islands; they are Mnema a strong and hardy race, which distinguishes the inhabitants of temperate climates from those of warmer countries. The above remarks are however only introduced