S. p. Smith. — Tongarcwa, or Pejirhyn Island. 85 



Art. IX. — Tongareioa, or Peiirhyn Island, and its People. 



By S. Percy Smith, F.K.G.S. 



[Read before tlie Auckland Institute, IMh October, 1889.'] 



When I had the honour of reading to the Aiackland Insti- 

 tute my presidential address, on the 4th June, 1888, 1 ventured 

 to call attention to one subject amongst others which oui' 

 founders had laid down as part of our duty to follow up — 

 viz., " the collection of material for the history and better 

 understanding of the Maori race and the allied races of the 

 South Pacific." Acting on this precept, I have essayed in the 

 following pages to place before you some notes on one of the 

 Polynesian islands and its inhabitants, gathered from various 

 sources, but principally from a work-'= by Mr. E. H. Lament, 

 of San Francisco, who, together with his comrades, was 

 wrecked there, and lived amongst the people as one of them- 

 selves for over eight months. 



Being one of the first Europeans who ever resided on the 

 island, Mr. Lamont had opportunities of observing the people 

 in their original savage state, which was typical of many of the 

 coral islands of those seas before the advent of the pearl-fisher, 

 the slaver, or the seeker after h'clie de mer. His narrative, 

 therefore, is a valuable contribution to the study of the race. 



My part in these notes has simply been to show the relation 

 the customs and language of the people have to those of the 

 Maori. I have not hesitated, therefore, to alter Mr. Lamont's 

 orthography of names of places, people, and words to make 

 them agree with the method of spelling adopted in all Pol}- 

 nesian languages, and to thereby render them capable of 

 comparison. In so doing some errors may have crept in, but 

 I believe them to be few. 



The island has an interest to us just now, inasmuch as it is 

 one of those lately annexed to the British Empire — a duty 

 which was performed by H. M.S. "Egeria" in the early part 

 of this year. It has this further interest also : that the people 

 are very nearly allied to our Maoris in their customs and 

 language — much more so, indeed, than the inhabitants of many 

 islands nearer to New Zealand in point of distance. That the 

 people are one and the same race no one who studies the names 

 of places and list of words appended can have any reasonable 

 doubt. And this fact is further borne out by the traditionary 

 account of their origin given below, in which it is stated that 

 they came from Earotonga, from whence also came some por- 



* " Wild Life amongst the Pacific Islanders." E. H. Lamont. Lon- 

 don, 1867. Hurst and Blackett. 



