Pacific , vol. 54, no. 3: 275-287 © 2000 by University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved

A History of in Remote 1

M. D. MERLIN2

ABSTRACT: Ethnobotany has had a relatively short history as a scientific or scholarly discipline, and according to R. L. Ford still lacks a unifying theory. In this the history of ethnobotany in is reviewed. In sequence, the of Pacific ethnobotany in European exploration and colo­ nial expansion are discussed, then the contributions of early foreign residents, and finally the rapidly growing field of scientific ethnobotany during the latter part of the twentieth century. Examples of key research from the disciplines of , , archaeology, and geography, as well as major trends in ethnobotanical research in Remote Oceania, are described.

DURING THE MUTINY on HMS Bounty in nobotanical" research, focusing on "theoreti­ 1789, rebellious sailors forced Captain Bligh cal and applied non-western, non-commercial and his loyalists off the ship. Later, the aspects of uses of ," was con­ mutineers threw carefully tended trasted with "," which seedlings overboard. It is well known that the focused instead on "applied economic, agri­ Bounty was intended to take breadfruit culti­ cultural, western, or commercial aspects of vars from to the West Indies. It is less " (McClatchey 1999). well known that Bligh (1792) recorded eight In its broadest sense, ethnobotanical research names for Tahitian varieties of this crop, came to have a wider purview than just na­ Artocarpus altiUs, and included descriptions tive use, and now includes the study of many for some of them. Fragments of ethno­ other traditional, non-Western relationships, botanical information, such as Bligh's notes such as native folk taxonomies, as well as on breadfruit, can be gleaned from the ear­ beliefs regarding origins, growth, seasonality, liest Western accounts of Pacific Islanders and therapeutic value (see Table 1). and their environments. However, it was not until the end of the nineteenth century that Westerners began systematic research into the traditional uses of plants by indigenous GEOGRAPlllCAL FOCUS peoples. The first use of the word "ethno­ botany" to define the study of plants as un­ Until recently, Western scholars divided derstood by "primitive and aboriginal peo­ Oceania, or the Pacific beyond ple" is dated December 1895 and is credited Southeast and , into three to the American botanist John W. Harsh­ : , , and Poly­ berger (1896). nesia. A two-part regional division of Near Before "ethnobotany" became a defining Oceania and Remote Oceania based on such term, others words were adopted, some of factors as linguistics, degrees of insular isola­ which are still in use. "Aboriginal botany," tion, and adaptation to small has for example, drew attention to "all forms of been suggested recently (Green 1991) (Figure the which the aborigines 1). Human settlement of used for , , textile fabrics, orna­ (essentially western Melanesia) and Aus­ ments, etc." (Powers 1873-1875: 373). "Eth- tralia occurred at least 40,000 yr ago. The islands ofRemote Oceania, which include the Santa Cruz group (the easternmost Solomon 1 Manuscript accepted I November 1999. 2 Program, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Islands), , , , and , Hawai'i 96822. all of the islands lumped into and 275 276 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 54, July 2000

TABLE I

USES AND FUNCTIONS OF PLANTS ON TROPICAL PACIFIC ISLANDS

ECOLOGICAL USES AND FUNCTIONS OF PLANTS Shade Soil improvement Temperature control Flood/Runoff control Erosion control Wild animal food Animal/ habitats Weed/Disease control Wind protection

CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC USES OF PLANTS Timber Cages/Roosts Hats gear Baskets Boat/Canoe building Fuel lnsect repellent Fertility control Boundary markers Weapons/Hunting Toothbrush Mats Teas Containers Scents/Perfumes Body ornamentation Torches/Lamps Brooms exchange Meat tenderizer Sails Decoration Toilet paper Preservatives Fibers/Fabrics Abrasive Recreation Dyes Insulation Fire making Musical instruments Glues/Adhesives Cordage/Lashing Dancing grounds Metaphors/Symbols Toys Floats Prop or Nurse plants Commercial products Switches Caulking Subjects of mythology Brushes Spices/Seasonings Supplementary food Deodorant Aphrodisiacs Masticants Snack/Wild/Emergency Embalming corpses Abortifacient Drugs food Religious images Magico-Religious Plaited ware Parcelization/Wrapping Secret meeting grounds

Note: Based on research conducted in both high islands and (after Thaman 1990) and demonstrating the great diversity of resources that plants provide.

Micronesia, were first discovered and settled for ), this essay marks the first sys­ by only within the past 3800 to 1000 tematic review of the region as a whole. The yr (Kirch 1997). In this paper eastern Mela­ emphasis is on Western discovery and study nesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia are treated of traditional use of plants. Following the as subregions of Remote Oceania. three-stage model that Kay (1972) used to The remarkable achievement of reaching describe Western study of of the very isolated islands of Remote. Oceania the Hawaiian Islands, this history of ethno­ in the late Holocene involved exploratory botany in Remote Oceania is divided into and accidental discoveries by peoples collec­ three periods: (1) the period of explorer­ tively referred to as Austronesians. They had naturalists, from the late sixteenth century to a common heritage of language and other the mid-nineteenth century; (2) the period of cultural traits, including relatively similar resident-naturalists, from the early nineteenth "transported landscapes" of agroforests, irri­ century to the early twentieth century; and gated swamps, dry-field , and a (3) the period that includes the rise of science "portmanteau biota" of consciously and ac­ in the twentieth century when ethnobotanical cidentally introduced organisms (Anderson research reached its most mature form. 1952, Crosby 1986, Kirch 1997). These an­ thropogenic landscapes and other cultural relationships with native and alien plants THE EXPLORER-NATURALIST PERIOD are the focus of much contemporary ethno­ botany. Ethnobotany is largely an outgrowth of Although some authors have reviewed the interest in and other native peo­ history of ethnobotany for specific areas of ples encountered by European explorers, be­ Remote Oceania (e.g., Whistler [1985] for the ginning with the Columbian voyages of the , [199Ia] for , and [2000] late fifteenth century. In Remote Oceania, A History of Ethnobotany in Remote Oceania-MERLIN 277

60'

Asia

20'

40' I;----'S'*'Iio..------.-t.1600 miles ~ 100" 140' 140' 100'

FIGURE I. Map of the Pacific region showing traditional of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, along with the more recent regional division of Near and Remote Oceania.

the explorer-naturalist period began with the Cook's voyages carried several natural arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth cen­ history-oriented volunteers as well as officers tury, followed by other explorers from Eu­ who were instructed by the Admiralty to rope and North America. The early Euro­ document customs and useful biota along pean expeditions into this vast and isolated with other phenomena they observed (Bea­ region were prompted by colonial and impe­ glehole 1955-1967). For botanical observa­ rialist designs. In the eighteenth century, the tions and collections, and impetus became one ofexpanding knowledge Daniel Solander were on the first voyage of an unknown and unexplored region. As a (1768-1771); the Forsters on the second consequence, progressively more observation, (1772-1775); and David Nelson on the third documentation, collection, and description of and last (1776-1780). The journals and travel natural and cultural phenomena of Pacific accounts of these botanists are mines of eth­ Islands occurred. The early accounts of nobotanical information (Merrill 1954) (Fig­ captains, their officers, and observers were ure 2). limited by short visits and because most of John Reihold Forster (1778) and his son them lacked knowledge of the native lan­ George (1777) both published accounts of guages. Nevertheless many of the accounts they visited, with notes on provide valuable insight. The journals of traditional uses of plants. George Forster's Captain Cook stand out because of Cook's (1777) account of Cook's second voyage was extensive experience in the Pacific and be­ influential in that it "not bnly charmed and cause of the naturalists who accompanied inspired , but was him (Beaglehole 1955-1967). the harbinger of the coming era of scientific 278 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 54, July 2000

FIGURE 2. Matavai Bay, Tahiti, showing breadfruit tree in foreground and the HMS Endeavour at anchor in the background. (From an engraving in Hawkesworth 1773.) travel undertaken by Humboldt, Darwin, Oceania from , where he Livingstone, Stanley, Bates, Wallace, and thought this species and other "valuable many others" (Glacken 1967: 502). Among products" originated (cf. Glacken 1967). Forster's ethnobotanical observations is his The accounts of Captain Otto von Kotze­ description of the copious feeding of "a very bue and the botanist Adelbert Chamisso fat man, who seemed to be a chief of the dis­ document a voyage of discovery (1815-1818) trict," in Tahiti. In the preparation of the that included visits to several islands in Re­ food, Forster tells us that "two servants were mote Oceania. Kotzebue (1821) provided the preparing [the obese man's] desert, by beat­ earliest account of edible screw pine (Pan­ ing up with water some bread- [Arto­ danus tectorius) fruit and its use by the native carpus altilis] and bananas [Musa sp.?], in a peoples of the . On a rela­ large wooden bowl, and mixing with it a tively dry in the Radak chain, he tells us quantity ofthe fermented sour paste ofbread­ that the Marshallese "had nothing with them fruit, (called mahei)." In an unpublished essay except a few grains of pandanus, which they on the breadfruit tree ("Der Brothbaum"), constantly chewed" (vol. 2: 8). Kotzebue in­ Forster suggested that humans "are probably dicated that he was given "pandanus juice" responsible for the distribution of this plant, made from stone-bruised fruit (phalanges) that it is not found in uncultivated places." that "had a sweet and spicy taste" (vol. He also suggested that it spread into Remote 2: 10). He claimed that all Marshallese "are A History of Ethnobotany in Remote Oceania-MERLIN 279

great lovers of sweet things; and their chief stance, however, Chamisso's own records can food, which they draw from the sweet pan­ be checked (Chamisso and ScWechtendal danus fruit, is probably the reason, that even 1826-1836). children of ten years old have not good teeth, and that they have generally, lost them all in the prime of life" (vol. 2: 17). THE RESIDENT-NATURALIST PERIOD Chamisso (in Kotzebue 1821, vol. 3: 150) described several pandanus , comment­ A second and more significant phase of ing on those intentionally planted as "dili­ ethnobotanical research began with the ar­ gently cultivated" and that the "numerous rival of Europeans and others who took up varieties, with improved , which are to residence in Remote Oceania in the nine­ be ascribed to cultivation, are propagated by teenth century and began to document a layers." He also tells us how pandanus paste variety of natural and cultural phenomena. was made, essentially describing the method These early "resident-naturalists" included used today. Chamisso noted that this paste , physicians, merchants, admin­ was "carefully preserved as valuable stock istrators, and teachers, who stayed for vari­ for long voyages," an early insight into the ous periods oftime, depending upon motives, effective, ancient dispersal strategy of the adaptability, and success in surviving (Figure Austronesians who were the first to travel 3). A remarkable report on Polynesian cul­ widely in Remote Oceania. ture is found in the account of William Mar­ One of the last grand-scale Pacific ex­ iner (Martin 1981), who was stranded as a plorations was that of the Ex­ youth in Tonga in 1806. Narrowly escaping ploring Expedition (1838-1842) commanded death after his ship was attacked and set on by Lt. . The official objectives fire at Ha'apai, Mariner was protected by an .were commerce and science. In a period of 4 influential chief until he fled to England in yr, 280 separate islands were visited, and im­ 1810. He learned the and portant advances were made in mapping is­ his observations of the local include lands previously unknown beyond the region. the traditional use of plants and local medic­ However, the most significant results derived inal practices (see Martin 1981). from the generally high standard of work, Thirty years later, a resident French which were first published in five volumes in Catholic priest on Futuna, the Marist mis­ 1845 (Wilkes 1970). These included notes sionary Pierre Chanel, began daily entries in and comments of ethnobotanical interest the "Journal de Mission" during the years about several islands in Remote Oceania, in­ 1838-1839. This recently translated diary cluding the earliest list of Tongan breadfruit (Kirch 1994b) provides ethnobotanical infor­ , and the expedition's diligent col­ mation about a time when the Polynesian lection and documentation of voucher speci­ culture of Futuna was largely unaffected by mens prepared the way for later, more accu­ the intrusion of Western . Pere rate botanical identification. Chanel's journal recorded the yearly cycle of The early accounts ofWestern explorers in agricultural activities, identifying specific re­ Remote Oceania are an invaluable source of lationships between the observation of cer­ baseline information about the ethnobotany tain celestial phenomena (e.g., the appear­ of the region at a time before and not long ance of the Pleiades, Mataliki) and the use of after first European contact. Some of these some key crops (e.g., drinking kava, Piper reports should be regarded with caution. In­ methysticum; processing turmeric, Curcuma deed, as early as 1822, a reviewer of the En­ longa; and planting yams, Dioscorea spp.). glish translation of Kotzebue's narrative and In the Cook Islands, the Wil­ Chamisso's observations criticized the trans­ liam Gill (Gill 1876, 1885, 1894) recorded lator for "deplorable ignorance ofhis subject; traditional customs and collected numerous hence the work abound in errors of the specimens, thereby documenting the tradi­ grossest kind" (Safford 1905: 28). In this in- tional use of plants and subsistence agricul- 280 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 54, July 2000

FIGURE 3. Village on Kosrae, eastern , showing cultivated bananas and breadfruit. (From an engraving in Duperrey 1826.) ture in Rarotonga and Mangaia. In the Ha­ by the Hawaiians in times of scarcity" waiian Islands, missionaries, merchants, and (1965: 441). other foreigners made many significant con­ The scholarly and scientific work of the tributions to knowledge of natural history nineteenth century "resident-naturalists" in during the nineteenth century (Kay 1972, Remote Oceania enriched the with 1997). Among the early botanical contri­ insight into the intricate associations of hu­ butions were those of Reverend William man beings and plants in one of the most Ellis (1827), who, in his narrative of a tour isolated areas of the world. However, as Ab­ around the island of Hawai'i, recorded ­ bott (1992 :ix) pointed out, "Their interpreta­ servations on the use and exploitation of tions of the data, inevitably colored by the sandalwood (Santalum spp.) and the ti plant debates and assumptions ofthe Victorian era, ( fruticosa) (Merlin and Van Ra­ need to be questioned in the light of modem vensway 1990). PhysicianWilliamHillebrand's scholarship and must often be set aside." (1965) of the Hawaiian Islands, origi­ nally published in 1888, an outstanding con­ tribution to botanical science of the time, ETHNOBOTANY AND MODERN SCIENCE included comments on traditional uses of plants in Hawai'i: the fruit of Pisonia, for The third and most productive period of ' example, "exudes a very viscid glue which ethnobotanical research in Remote Oceania the native woodmen make use offor catching involves the worldwide rise of scientific pro­ birds" (1965: 368) and "the tuberous rhi­ fessionalism, accompanied by an explo­ zome of [Smilax melastomifolia] was eaten sion of interest in ethnobotany (Ford 1994, A History of Ethnobotany in Remote Oceania-MERLIN 281

Schultes and von Reis 1995, Balick and Cox Although much ethnobotanical informa­ 1997). This now includes the work not only tion for Remote Oceania had been recorded of botanists, but also of anthropologists and by the mid-twentieth century, most of it dealt other researchers as well. Cox and Banack with agricultural uses of plants. This body of (1991) referred to ethnobotany as a kind of knowledge was also usually somewhat pe­ "scientific orphan," facing difficulties of in­ ripheral to the main goals of many re­ tegrating the expertise of scholars and scien­ searchers, such as anthropologists concerned tists from different fields (see also Etkin and with other aspects of Remote Oceanic island Meilleur 1993). To this day, a lack of com­ and botanists whose primary focus munication between researchers in different was the dQcumentation and description of disciplines has limited the extent of ethno­ the of these islands. This limited focus botanical studies in Remote Oceania. Never­ on ethnobotany in the region began to theless, as the interdisciplinary needs of eth­ broaden toward the end ofthe first half of the nobotany are addressed, so the contributions twentieth century. of botanists, anthropologists, archaeologists, Over the last 50 to 60 yr, botanists, an­ and geographers will be brought to bear. thropologists, and geographers have begun the process of systematically documenting and analyzing the ethnobotanical traditions The First Three Decades of Pacific Islanders. The crucial historical as­ Anthropologists and ethnographers were pect of this relatively recent work is that it is among the first professional scientists to occurring about as rapidly as these traditions arrive in Remote Oceania. Johann Kubary are disappearing as a result of the global­ (1895), an Austrian ethnographer who trav­ ization of commercial economy and loss of eled to almost all the high islands and atolls cultural heritage. in the Carolines-from in the west to Kosrae in the east-described the cultures of The Botanists the Carolinians and documented early tradi­ tional plant use in the region. In the first de­ Since 1940, a trio of classical botanists has cade of the twentieth century, the German dominated the field of Pacific ethnobotany. South Sea Expedition of 1908-1910, one of Elmer Drew Merrill was the trailblazer, Jac­ the most important academic excursions in ques Barrau detailed the understanding of the tropical Pacific, was sponsored by the traditional subsistence agriculture, and Doug­ Ethnological Museum in Hamburg and sent las Yen pioneered botanical methodologies eight ethnologists to carry out research on 34 and new techniques in field archaeology. islands, mostly in Micronesia. The results, Merrill has been referred to as the scattered through 11 volumes of 40 separate "American Linnaeus" (Verdoorn 1946). He bound parts and more than 6400 pages (Thi­ was a much-honored botanist who among lenius 1983), includes references to tradi­ many other appointments held the direc­ tional use of plants on many islands. Augus­ torship of both the New York Botanical tin Kramer, who produced a monumental (1930-1935) and the Arnold Arbo­ work on Samoa (Kramer 1902-1903), in­ retum of Harvard University (1935-1946). cluding ethnobotanical information, was a His wide-ranging botanical, agricultural, and member of this expedition (see Kramer 1929 historical interests in different areas of tropi­ on Palau). cal Asia and the Indo-Pacific, including Re­ In the 1930s and 1940s ethnographers mote Oceania, are summarized in more than such as Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Buck), of 30 publications, perhaps the best known of Maori descent, and Edwin Burrows studied which are his botanical bibliographies (Mer­ the of several Polynesian rill 1937, Merrill and Walker 1947). They are societies, documenting many traditional uses mines of botanical, mycological, agricultural, of plants, especially cultivated species (e.g., and ethnographic information and include Buck 1930, Burrows 1937). references to traditional uses of plants in 282 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 54, July 2000

Remote Oceania. Merrill believed that the Cox 1997). W. Arthur Whistler has docu­ botanical ancestors ofmost of the plants used mented and interpreted ethnobotany in Poly­ traditionally by Pacific islanders at the time nesia in general (199la, 1992a), and medicinal of first European contact were brought from plants in particular, in surveys of traditional the west (Southeast Asia and Near Oceania) plant use in (1988), the Cook Islands by early prehistoric voyagers. Consequently, (1985, 1990), Tonga (199lb,c, 1992b), and he was highly critical of Heyerdahl's (1952) Samoa (1996, 2000). Will McClatchey, an theory that islands in Remote Oceania could ethnobotanist with formal training in an­ have been settled by Native Americans thropology and pharmacology, has applied (Merrill 1954). his interdisciplinary approach to the study of Jacques Barrau, a French botanist, sig­ ethnobotany (McClatchey 1993a) and ethno­ nificantly advanced the modern field of eth­ pharmacopoeia (McClatchey 1996) on Ro­ nobotany in the Pacific in the 1950s and tuma. He has also focused on the traditional 1960s. He made many contributions to our uses of sago palm, Metroxylon warburgii regional understanding of the cultivated spe­ (McClatchey and Cox 1992), and turmeric, cies in traditional subsistence agriculture of Curcuma longa (McClatchey 1993b), in Ro­ Southeast Asia, Near Oceania, and Remote tuma. The botanists Isabella Aiona Abbott Oceania and provided insights into the ori­ (1992) and Beatrice Krauss (1993) have pub­ gins of cultivated plants and their domesti­ lished comprehensive studies of traditional cation in Oceania (e.g., Barrau 1958, 1961, use of plants in Hawai'i, summarizing much 1965a,b). of the known ethnobotanical information for Douglas Yen began his professional career that island group. in the 1940s as a plant breeder, but became, in his own words, an "economic botanist." Anthropologists and Archaeologists His definitive work on the enigmatic origins (Yen 1974a) of the sweet (Ipomoea Following Kubary, European, North batatas) was but a preface to later work in American, and Japanese anthropologists, economic botany, prehistory, and anthropol­ archaeologists, and ethnographers sailed into ogy in the Pacific. An innovator, he used Remote Oceania in the twentieth century. cytological and morphological methods in Their major interests included material cul­ the investigation of plant variation and new ture, medicinal plant use, traditional subsis­ techniques in field archaeology enabling tence systems, and the human impact on the identification of plant remains in situ in pre­ environment. Among archaeologists focusing historic agricultural systems. Yen has given on Pacific Islanders and their environment, particular attention to agricultural origins in Patrick Kirch (1985, 1988a, 1997) has domi­ New , now assumed to be the source nated the field with meticulous documenta­ of much of the traditional agriculture in tion on, and acute insight into, the many Remote Oceania (e.g., Yen 1971, 1991a,b, facets of Pacific prehistory. His analyses of 1998). He has also described traditional prehistoric agricultural systems in Near and island agricultural systems on Anuta (Yen Remote Oceania (Kirch 1991, 1994a), and of 1973), Santa Cruz (Yen 1974b), and Tikopia "the wet and the dry" as key to the develop­ in the (Kirch and Yen ment of complex sociopolitical structures, are 1982). central to perceptions of prehistoric subsis­ In the last two decades, Paul Cox made tence and social structure in Remote Oce­ several contributions on Samoan ethno­ ania. His interpretations of cultivation and botany (1980, 1982, 1993, Cox et al. 1989) human-plant interaction highlight significant and on Polynesia as a region (Cox and Ba­ environmental impact in the precontact pe­ nack 1991). He has also focused attention on riod (Kirch 1982, Kirch and Yen 1982, Kirch possible drug discovery (Cox and Balick et al. 1992, Kirch 1996, Kirch and Hunt 1994) and on the science and ethics of ethno­ 1997). Kirch has also contributed to archae­ botany (Cox and Elmqvist 1991, Balick and obotany in Oceania (Kirch 1988b, 1989, A History of Ethnobotany in Remote Oceania-MERLIN 283

Hather and Kirch 1991) and has discussed tional use of plants in Micronesia (Merlin et the impact of artificial selection on food al. 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, Merlin and Juvik crops such as cultivated fruits and nuts in the 1996; also see Morrison et al. 1994a,b). tropical Pacific (Lepofsky et al. 1998). Other anthropologists, archaeologists, and archaeobotanists who have recently con­ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS tributed to our understanding of precontact I would like to acknowledge Philip Reh­ agriculture and the environment in Remote bock for his support and encouragement, Oceania include Spriggs (1982), Flenley and and the cartographic assistance of Chien­ King (1984), Ayers and Haun (1985), Hwa Chen. Hunter-Anderson (1991), Hather (1992, 1994), Pollock (1992), and Athens et al. (1996). LITERATURE CITED ABBOTT, I. A. 1992. La 'au Hawai'i: Tradi­ The Geographers tional Hawaiian uses of plants. Bishop The contributions of geographers to eth­ Museum Press, Honolulu. nobotany center on traditional agriculture, ANDERSON, E. 1952. Plants, man, and life. the human impact on vegetation, and on the University of California Press, Berkeley. use of plants in Remote Oceania. Randy ATHENS, J. S., J. V. WARD, and G. M. MURA­ Thaman, William Clarke, and Harley Man­ KAMI. 1996. Development of an agro­ ner have focused on agricultural systems, on a Micronesian high island: Pre­ documenting the significance of traditional historic Kosraean agriculture. Antiquity agroforestry for 70: 834-846. (Thaman 1976, 1994, Clarke and Thaman AYRES, W. S., and A. E. HAUN. 1985. 1993, Manner and Clarke 1993). Thaman Archeological perspectives on food pro­ (1982, 1995) has made an important connec­ duction in eastern Micronesia. In I. S. tion between traditional food plants and nu­ Farrington, ed. Prehistoric intensive agri­ tritional well-being in Remote Oceania. In culture in the Tropics. Australian Na­ this context, Thaman has recorded tradi­ tional University, Canberra. BAR Inter­ tional uses and significance of coastal and national Series 232 (2): 455-473. forest plants in the region, especially for the BALICK, M. J., and P. A. Cox. 1997. Plants, atolls of (Thaman 1990, 1992). people, and culture: The science of ethno­ Manner has applied the principles of cultural botany. W. H. Freeman & Co., New York. ecology in his studies of Pacific agricultural BARRAu, J. 1958. Subsistence agriculture in systems and ethnobotany, also documenting Melanesia. Bernice P. Bishop Mus. Bull. traditional use of plants on atolls (Manner 219. 1987, 1994, Manner and Mallon 1989). ---. 1961. Subsistence agriculture in As the twentieth century closes, one sees Polynesia and Micronesia. Bernice P. two general trends in the study of ethno­ Bishop Mus. Bull. 223. botany in Remote Oceania. On the one hand, ---. 1965a. L'humide et Ie sec: An essay there has been a substantial increase in eth­ on ethnobiological adaptation to contras­ nobotanically related research. At the same tive environments in the Indo-Pacific area. time, many societies in the region expe­ J. Polynesian Soc. 74: 329-346. rienced significant habitat alteration and ---. 1965b. Histoire et prehistoire horti­ relative loss of knowledge and interest in cole de l'Oceanie tropical. J. Soc. ­ traditional use of plants. In an attempt to istes 21 : 55-78. encourage the conservation of cultural and BEAGLEHOLE, J. c., ED. 1955-1967. The jour­ biological diversity, geographers produced a nals of Captain on his voy­ series of locally oriented environmental edu­ ages of discovery. 4 vols. Hakluyt , cation textbooks that help document tradi- Cambridge. 284 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 54, July 2000

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