Sandpiper (South Pacific)

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As beach runners (Engl. Beachcomber ) refers to Europeans that on the islands in the 19th century, especially the South Pacific were living.

The Europeans were mostly dropouts, ex-sailors or fugitives who had left civilization behind and adapted their lifestyle to the native Polynesians . The first sandpipers had appeared since the discovery of the South Pacific islands by the Spaniards, but in the 19th century their numbers rose sharply due to the emerging trade. By 1850 it is estimated that 2,000 sandpipers lived in Polynesia and Micronesia . They played an important role as mediators and translators in the colonial relations between the locals and the Europeans.

The origin of the term is uncertain, the sandpipers were first mentioned in Herman Melville's work Omoo (1847, German Omu ). A well-known sandpiper was William Harris .

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  1. ↑ KRHowe, Where the Waves Fall: A New South Sea Islands History from first settlement to Colonial Ruler (1984)., 103
  2. ^ Ruth Blair (1996), Typee , (Oxford World's Classics). Introduction xv.
  3. ^ HE Maude, Of Islands and Men (1968), 135.

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