Caucasian families over the earth, I have observed this change more aptly illustrated in different copies of the Lisbon and Colombo Bible. But another process goes on, both in single and separate tribes, that tends to divergence, i.e., in their applying radical expressions to parallel and convertible ideas and objects; and confining ourselves to the regions over which this enquiry will extend, we give below some examples of such as have taken place amongst the various tribes scattered over the vast extent to which we are led. Thus, in Malay, bunga is the radical expression for flowers; by parallel it is applied to sparks—bunga api, the flower of fire; to rent bunga tannah, the flower of land. Again, in Malay, bua is the radical expression for fruit; by parallel it becomes cannon balls—bua meriam, the fruit of cannon; and by conversion it becomes flowers in Maori, viz., pua. Again, in Malay, lima signifies five; by conversion it becomes lima, the hand, in Salayer, Salibabo, Cajeli, and Lariki, tribes in the Moluccas; and by parallel it becomes penglima, an admiral, or hand of the sovereign. Finally, the word mata in Malay and several other languages, meaning the eye, has extensive application in this manner: thus, by parallel mata ayer means a fountain, or eye of water; mata wang means hard cash, or the eye of money; mata hari means the sun, or the eye of the day; while, by conversion, the same word (mata) in Maori becomes the face.

It will be seen that these primitive people have dabbled a little in political economy, for, while they call bua wang (the fruit of money) profit, they call bunga wang (the flower of money) interest. Whether this be correct science or not I ask the followers of Adam Smith to answer. So also, as naturalists, while they call bua fruit, they call eggs by the same expression, i.e., the fruit of fowls—a hint that even Darwin might not take exception to.

Some illustrations of the application of radical expressions applied to parallel or convertible ideas and objects:—

Buah or bua, fruit; buah raga, football; buah pari, dice; buah chatur, draughtsman; buah pelu, testiculi; buah meriam, cannon balls; anak buah, dependents of a chief; buah permata, jewels; sa buah nigri, one town; sa buah ruma, one house; sa buah kapal, one ship; buah wang, profit, in Malay; pua, flowers; hua, eggs, in Maori.

Bunga, flowers; bunga pala, mace; bunga karang, coral; bunga api, sparks; bunga wang, interest; bunga tannah, rent, in Malay; bunga nea, fruit, in Bolang-hitam.

Kaki, feet; kaki, legs; debawah kaki, at your disposal, in Malay.

Aallah, the Almighty; alah, to overcome, in Malay; ber allah, an idol, in Bajow.

Hulu or ulu, the head of men or beasts, source of a river or of events, handle of a sword or knife, interior of a country; ulu-nian, aboriginal inhabitants; bulu, feathers, down, hair; bulu mata, eyelashes; buluh, bamboo cane; de hulu, before, in contradistinction to de blakang, behind; pengulu, a leader or chief on land, in Malay; huru huru, coarse hair; huru, brushwood, in Maori; huru, feathers, in Liang; bulu, feathers, and uhu, hair, in Salayer.

Lima, five; penglima, a leader at sea (an admiral); lima, the hand, in Salayer, Salibabo, Cajeli, and Lariki; also, olima, in Bouton; rilma, in Menado; rima, in Bolanghitam,

Liang, and Saparua; lemnatia, in Amblaw; limaka, in Morella; limawa, in Batumerah; limamo, in Camarian; limacolo, in Teluti; niman, in Ahtiago; and limin, in Teor.

Mata, the eye; mata ayer, a fountain; mata pisau, the blade of a knife; mata wang, hard cash; mata banda, property; mata jalan, advanced guard; mata mata, an overseer; mata hari, the sun (literally the eye of the day), in Malay; mata alo, the sun, in Salayer; also, mata roa, in Menado; ria mata, in Liang; lia mata, in Lariki, etc.; mata, face, in Maori.

Muka, the face; muka papan, effrontery (literally, flat board-faced), in Malay.

Rupa, face, in Salayer; rupa, likeness, in Malay.

Angkat, to lift; mang kat, to die (applied only to princes); anak angkat, the adopted child; angkatan, an expedition by sea or land; angkas, ethereal space, in Malay.

Panas, warm, in Malay; bahaha, in Cajeli; bafanat, in Ahtiago; mahana, the day, in Maori.

Hangat, hot, in Malay; hangat, the sun, in Wayapo.

Mata hari, the sun; and mata, the eye, in Malay.

Mata alo, the sun; and mata, the eye, in Salayer.

Ria mata, the sun; and mata, the eye, in Liang.

Lia matei, the sun; and mata, the eye, in Morella.

Lia mata, the sun; and mata, the eye, in Lariki.

Riamatani, the sun; and mata, the eye, in Saparua.

Liamatan, the sun; and matan, the eye, in Ahtiago.

Matalon, the sun; and mata, the eye, in Bajow.

Kom-aru, the sun; and karu, the eye, in Maori.

The above are a few examples of the tendencies to divergency in languages by operations within themselves; but they are by no means so forcible as influences from without, caused by inroads of conquering tribes, mercantile communication, and the aptitude for borrowing expressions from more cultivated races, yet, notwithstanding, these primary terms in tropical, and indeed in other races, are all but irradicable, excepting by the extirpation of the people themselves. Of this fact most enquirers will have seen abundant proof.

The nearest cognate race to the New Zealand Maori is that which inhabits the Tonga or Friendly Islands. This group is sub-divided into three well marked sub-groups, viz., Tongatabu, Haabai, and Haafuluhao. Whether the middle group—Haabai—be the Hawaiki of the Maoris, and Tongatabu be the roro, or gate thereto, spoken of in their traditions, I will leave others to decide; certain it is that the languages have a most remarkable affinity, when, after considering the above causes of deterioration, we find after the lapse of centuries of separation so much glossarial coincidence. Captain Cook properly remarks, “that they are but dialects of one tongue, having less divergence than many counties in Great Britain.”

For the sake of comparison with the languages of the Indian Archipelago, I have adopted the same selection of words as is given by Mr. Wallace in his comparative vocabularies of that region, though there is some disadvantage in

this course, inasmuch as many objects are not known to the Polynesian races which are common in the archipelago, and some words do not express primary wants.

On examination of the list of words below, it will appear that in allowing for differences in articulation which has caused the elision or transposition of vowels and consonants, there are sixty-six of the hundred-and-two words common to both. Thus we have in Maori and Tongan respectively, hua, fua, fruit; pai, mea, good; wera, vela, hot; rahi, lahi, large; wahine, fafine, woman; etc. But in this list fifteen words have no expression either in one dialect or both, owing to the object not being known to them, such as deer, monkey, etc. Thus the ratio of common words to the whole should be as 66:87. It may be noticed, in passing, that the word for pig in Maori, viz., poaka, being radically the same as the Tongan term, buaka, must have been either preserved by tradition or introduced by natives of Polynesia after the advent of the European. This word, in its various modifications, has extensive range, puaka, buaka, phua'a, etc., and is supposed by J. R. Logan to be of Asiatic origin, as phak, Thibet; phag, Bhutan, Limbu, etc.; wok, Kyen, Champang, etc.; wak, Magar; vak, Naga, Garu; piak, Chepang.

N.B.—Mariner's “Vocabulary of the Tongan Language” has been followed here, and as it is in the old system of spelling, oo stands in it for u, ow for au, c for k, y for ai, etc. In copying the words from the above we have altered the orthography to the new system, though they stand here as given by their author.

We now come to a comparison between the glossaries of the Maori and those of the Indian Archipelago. A list is given below of nine English words, against which are put the various expressions in Maori; and after the latter are placed equivalents found amongst fifty-nine languages of the Indian Archipelago. It will be seen that in every case they have one, two, or more equivalents, even though the expressions vary. Thus, in the various expressions in Maori for the word “small,” three were found in the archipelago—iti, riki, moroiti; and the words for fire, ahi, and water, wai, have very extensive range under various modifications. Of the following nine words, four only are Malay.

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The next list, as given below, contains 102 English words with their various expressions in Maori, to which are appended their equivalents as found amongst thirty-three languages of the Indian Archipelago. On examination it will be seen that, with the exception of sixteen words, all others have one or more of the several Maori terms displayed in some of these languages. Thus, the two expressions for rain in Maori are ua and awha; the former is found in various languages as uan, huya, ulah, hura, hulan, and the latter as oha and wao. The approximations are too close (that is when not actually the same), and the divergences too gradual, to admit a doubt as to common origin.

The sixteen words that have not their equivalents consist principally of articles and objects not known in New Zealand prior to the coming of the European, such as banana, chopper, cocoanut, honey, etc. Thus eighty-six words out of 102 are common between Maori and the languages of the Indian Archipelago, as against sixty-six words out of the same, common between Maori and Tongan. Then, as the latter are dialects of admittedly one language, the affinity of Maori glossaries to more distant races has forcible exposition, and

it should not escape remark that of the 102 words compared, nineteen of these only are Malay, the great majority belonging to the groups of Molucca, Ceram, and Timor, situated at the east end of the archipelago. Hence a glossarial link is clearly proved viâ Tongatabu, expressively called in Maori tradition the roro, or gate to Hawaiki, their home country, wherever that had been.

Maori compared with 102 words in thirty-three languages of the Indian Archipelago.^*

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Being thus done with the Malayo-Polynesian glossarial connection, before we proceed in our enquiries it is necessary to mention that the Silong tribe of the islands of Mergui, near Burmah, are the furthest north-westward having distinct affinity with the above families. The negro islanders of Andaman are known to be ideologically connected, but their language, as far as I have gathered, has been too slightly investigated for final opinion. At Mergui, therefore, practically ends the influence of the peculiar phase of fossil words that we have been considering. Beyond this point the vast area of South Asia is met with, where now, at this period, Thibetan, Arian, and Semitic languages cover the space; and it is not till we come to the great island of Madagascar that we find traces of the material of which we are in search.

Captain Cook, the renowned navigator, indicates this fact as a circumstance known at his time. After him Humboldt supports the hypothesis of the language of Madagascar being identical in construction with those of the Indian Archipelago, but how far that great authority had analysed the languages is unknown to me. The bare fact of his support is all the information that I have been able

to gain. Subsequent writers discourage the idea, and the latest that I have been able to consult (Griffiths) says the following of the connection :—“The Malagasi bears some analogy to the Malay and the Arabic in the sound and signification of many of the words, and in the inflection of certain verbs; but to say that on this account it is a dialect of either the Malay or the Arabic would be as unreasonable as to say that the Arabic is a dialect of Hebrew, or the Hebrew a dialect of the Arabic.” On reading this opinion the thought struck me that, as from my own personal knowledge the Malay has no affinity to Arabic, the author in comparing Malagasi to two dissimilar things might not have investigated either with the completeness necessary; so, in taking up Ellis' “Madagascar Revisited” and opening its pages at random, I was struck with the strong resemblance of the beautiful woodcut giving the portrait of a native, to the common cast of countenance found in the Indian Archipelago amongst the Bajow, or Sea Malays. A copy of this (Pl. I.) I am enabled to show to the Society through the skill of Mr. Alexander McColl, who has transferred it by the photo-lithographic process. Dipping further into the work I found almost every fifth word to have Malayan affinities, and coming to the capital, which I may take by way of example, I found it called Antananarivo, or the City of a Thousand Towns or Villages. Now, allowing for the differences of articulation, this is precisely the same as the Malay word Tana-saribu; the word tanana in Malagasi, denuded of the prefix, being used in a more restricted sense than it is generally in Malay—though even here a Malay uses the word in a very restricted sense occasionally, as when he talks of his tana bindang, or rice plot; tana campong, his village area, etc.

Thus led on, I was induced to proceed with picking out the word fossils of the language, i.e., so far as the excellent grammar of the Rev. Mr. Griffiths afforded material. Out of this work I collected 146 words, as given below, ninety-five of which proved to be Malayan, and eighty Malayo-Polynesian. Of the list of words twenty-nine only had no equivalents. Of course it would be improper were I not to remark that primary words alone were selected, and not the secondary or tertiary that are given in all dictionaries. Again, comparing the Malagasi words given below that are also found in Wallace's and Earle's comparative vocabularies of the Indian Archipelago, I found that of forty-seven words forty-two had their equivalents in one or other, or several, of the dialects and languages. Thus in the primary words—in the bases of their languages—close affinity is clearly indicated.

Instancing particular words in Malagasi, it is interesting to examine their dispersion. Thus the word vorona, bird, is found in the Indian Archipelago slightly altered to burong, urong, etc., but the most usual term is manok, manu, manik, mano, etc. The former term is African, the other Asian; and in examining the various vocabularies we see that one seems to have striven to

displace the other, the Asian one being the more victorious. The word volo, hair, is found nearly perfectly preserved at Massaratty and Wayapo, near Ceram, as olofolo and folo respectively. In Tonga it is fulu; in New Zealand, huru; and in Malay, bulu; in Africa, vulu; and in Asia (Thibet), pul. The two words vava and mur, the mouth, have each their preservers—(1st) in New Zealand, waha; in Viti (Feejee), fafa; in Bouton, bawa; in Wokan (Arru), fafahi; (2nd) in Kaffraria (Africa), mlumu; and in Malaya, mulut. Lastly, the words nif, nifo, tooth, have been nearly extirpated in the Indian Archipelago, but are preserved in New Zealand, as niho; in Tonga, as nifo; in Matabello, near Keh Islands, as nifoa; etc.

One hundred and forty-six words of Malagasi compared with Malayan, Maori, and Tongan Dictionaries, to which are added some African and East Indian cognations.

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Note.—y in Malagasi terminations has same sound as i in other words.

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