Tregear. — On the Moriori. 77 



(which seems, to have had uo great chief, but the two most 

 important persons were Tunanga and Tarere), and the Oropuke, 

 under Moe. No interval of time of any great extent appears 

 to have lapsed between the arrival of the Oropuke and of the 

 other canoes. There is a distinct tradition to the effect that 

 Kohu, in the canoe Tane, first discovered the Chatham Islands, 

 but that he returned to Hawaiki. The largest island of the 

 Chathams is called Eekohu (Rangi-kohu) after the name of 

 this explorer. The old Moriori chief Tapu seemed positive 

 that the Moriori were the original inhabitants and true 

 " children of the soil," and that the three canoes were the first 

 arrivals from Hawaiki. It is evident, however, from their 

 vocabulary (which is a corrupt provincial dialect or ^^ato/.s of 

 New Zealand Maori), from their songs, and from the genealogv, 

 that they are a true branch of the Polynesians, and have come 

 from the same far-off Hawaiki, if any reliance is to be placed 

 upon tradition, and if the Polynesians are not autochthonous. 

 From Tapu I obtained the old names of the months as 

 follows : — 



These names differ from those used by the Maori, and are 

 all names of persons. The '' tch " written above is peculiar to 

 Moriori, and is only met elsewhere in Tonga and the other 

 Friendly Islands. The Maori word tainaiti (child) becomes 

 tchimitchi, or even tchimitch, the Moriori being fond of clip- 

 ping the last vowel off a word. The name of the people 

 originally owners of the Chathams is given as Tch amata. 



The nights of the moon are as follows: 1, Omutu ; 

 2, Owhiro; 3, Otere; 4, Ohewata; 5. Oua; 6, Okoro; 7, Tamate 

 tutahi ; 8, Tamate turua ; 9, Tamate nui; 10, Tamate hokopa; 

 11, Ohua; 12, Owaru; 13, Hua ; 11-, Mawharu ; 15, Outua ; 

 16, Ohotu ; 17, Maure ; 18, Oturu ; 19, Rakaunui ; 20, Rakau 

 motohe ; 21, Takirau ; 22, Oika ; 23, Korekore tutahi ; 

 •24:, Korekore turua; 25, Korekore hokopau; 26, Tangaro a 

 ]nua; 27, Tangaro a roto ; 28, Tangaro kildo ; 29, Otane ; 30, 

 Orongonui ; 31, Orongo mori. 



