GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL - Cloverport Independent Schools

SPEEDBOAT TO POLYNESIA • 3 5 3
mies underwent great diversification in different environments. Within a
millennium, East Polynesian colonists had reverted to hunting-gathering
on the Chathams while building a protostate with intensive food production
on Hawaii.
When Europeans at last arrived, their technological and other advantages
enabled them to establish temporary colonial domination over most
of tropical Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. However, indigenous
germs and food producers prevented Europeans from settling most of this
region in significant numbers. Within this area, only New Zealand, New
Caledonia, and Hawaii—the largest and most remote islands, lying farthest
from the equator and hence in the most nearly temperate (Europelike)
climates—now support large European populations. Thus, unlike
Australia and the Americas, East Asia and most Pacific islands remain
occupied by East Asian and Pacific peoples.