Ellis, in his Polynesian Researches, represents the Pacific
Islands as being inhabited by two distinct races of men, each of whom
appears to preserve the separate essential marks of a physical and
mental type. The first, which is thought the most ancient, consists of
the Oceanic negroes, who are distinguished by dark skins, small stature,
and woolly or crisped hair. They are clearly Hametic. They occupy
Australia, and are found to be aborigines in Tasmania, New Guinea, New
Britain, New Caledonia and New Hebrides. The other race has many of the
features of the Malays and South Americans, yet differs materially
from either.

Yet what is most remarkable, the latter have an ingenious system of
numeration, by which they can compute very high numbers. They proceed by
decimals, precisely like the Algonquin tribes, but while the
arithmetical theory is precisely the same, a comparison shows that the
names of the numerals have not the slightest resemblance.

POLYNESIAN. ALGONQUIN.
One, Atabi, Pazhik.
Two, Arua, Neezh.
Three, Atora, Niswi.
Four, Amaha, Newin.
Five, Arima. Nanun.
Six, Aono, Ningodwaswa.
Seven, Ahitu, Nizhwaswa.
Eight, Avaru, Schwaswa.
Nine, Aiva, Shonguswa.
Ten, Ahuru, Metonna.

The Polynesians, like the Algonquins, then say, ten and one for eleven,
&c., till twenty, which is _erua ahuru_, this is two tens; twenty-one
consists of the terms for two tens and one. In this manner they count to
ten tens, which is _rau_. Ten _raus_ is one _mano_, or thousand; ten
_manos_ one million, and so on. How exactly the Algonquin method, but
not a speck of analogy in words.

_27th_. One of the emigrant Germans who swarm about the city, a poor
ill-dressed wood-sawyer, met me, on coming out of my office door, and,
mistaking me for the owner of a visible pile of wood, addressed me in
one of the Rhine dialects, inquiring the owner. I replied: _Ich wies
necht--es is necht mein_. He looked with delighted astonishment at an
American speaking his language--"a stranger in a strange land"--and was
ready to proffer any services in his power.

_April 4th_. A friend from Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, writes: "It was
my luck to be called to Washington the latter part of Februa