In this chapter the physique of Pacific people is considered in basic terms. In essence this is a discussion of height and weight. Stature and mass are alternatives here, and I tend to use them indiscriminately. We are particularly interested in the physique as it was in prehistory, before the introduction of foreign genes, or any great change – in a broad sense, including diet and disease – of environment. There are several ways of gleaning this information. First there is the historical record. The journals of the early European seamen, accustomed to observe accurately, are valuable. At least for the English the keeping of such a record invariably was an order of their official instructions, and other agencies put in their plea. The first volume of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society contained a set of Directions for Seamen, bound for far voyages, which advised and admonished to record. The importance of accurate drawing was emphasized, and most major expeditions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries took with them competent draughtsmen and artists. It is wise to focus on the original drawings of people, for by the time these had passed through the hands of two or three engravers on the way to publication the influence of Rousseau was usually strongly evident, all becoming plump and Arcadian.

Along with the nautical records are those of various scientists and medical men who travelled with the more sophisticated expeditions. Some of these, such as the record by H. L. Guppy, surgeon on H. M. S.