Introduction

After the settlement of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia in prehistoric times, the exploration of the Pacific had to wait for untold centuries before ships and navigators reached a stage of development that would admit of venturing out of sight of land. The inhabitants of the Asiatic coast and the islands along the western boundary of the great ocean evinced no curiosity as to what lay beyond their eastern horizon. They were probably sufficiently occupied with their coastal and inter-island trade to be satisfied. The Indian tribes along the eastern boundary formed by the Pacific coast of the two Americas took no interest in the sea beyond inshore fishing, and they developed neither the vessels nor the maritime curiosity to venture beyond sight of land.