ts, in rubbing the
dead bodies. The people of the Ladrones, Father Le Gobien tells
us, sometimes do the same--_D'autres frottent les morts d'huile
odoriferante._ 8. The inhabitants of Otaheite believe the immortality
of the soul; and that there are two situations after death, somewhat
analogous to our heaven and hell; but they do not suppose, that their
actions here in the least influence their future state. And in the
account given in this Voyage of the religious opinions entertained at
the Friendly Islands, we find there exactly the same doctrine. It
is very observable, how conformable to this is the belief of the
inhabitants of the Ladrones--_Ils sont persuades_ (says Le Gobien) _de
l'immortalite de l'ame. Ils reconnoissent meme un Paradis et un Enfer,
dont ils se forment des idees assez bizarres. Ce n'est point, selon
eux, la vertu ni le crime, qui conduit dans ces lieux la; les bonnes
ou les mauvaises actions n'y servent de rien._ 9. One more very
singular instance of agreement shall close this long list. In Captain
Cook's account of the New Zealanders, we find that, according to them,
the soul of the man who is killed, and whose flesh is devoured, is
doomed to a perpetual fire; while the souls of all who die a natural
death, ascend to the habitations of the gods. And, from Le Gobien, we
learn that this very notion is adopted by his islanders--_Si on a le
malkeur de mourir de mort violente, on a l'enfer pour leur portage._

Surely such a concurrence of very characteristic conformities cannot
be the result of mere accident; and, when combined with the specimens
of affinity of language mentioned at the beginning of this note,
it should seem that we are fully warranted, from premises thus
unexceptionable, to draw a certain conclusion, that the inhabitants of
the various islands discovered or visited by Captain Cook in the South
Pacific Ocean, and those whom the Spaniards found settled upon the
Ladrones or Mariannes, in the northern hemisphere, carried the same
language, customs, and opinions from one common centre, from which
they had emigrated; and that, therefore, they may be considered as
scattered members of the same nation.

See Pere Le Gobien's _Histoire des Iles Mariannes_, Book ii. or the
summary of it in _Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes_,
T. ii. p. 492-512, from which the materials for this note have been
extracted.--D.]

As in such a life, their women must contribute a very large share
of i