416 Trcnisactions. 



The Morioi'i traditions also inflation the arrival {c. 1350) of three canoes — 

 Rangimata, Rangihoua, and Oro])uke — from " Hawaiki," which we may 

 fairly assume to be Rarotonga. 



Lastly, in 1835 a body of Taranaki Maoris occupied the island, com- 

 ])letely dominating the Moriori inhabitants, many of whom they murdered, 

 while the survivors were reduced to a condition of slavery. Under this 

 treatment the Moriori dwindled rapidly. It is believed that at that date 

 there were about two thousand : Dieffenbach estimated their numbers at 

 ninety in 1840,* and Mr. Shand gave the number as twenty-five in 1898. 



So far, then, as history is concerned, the inhabitants of the Chathams 

 would appear to have come from " Hawaiki "" (possibly Rarotonga) ; some 

 may have been Maruiwi from New Zealand : those who came with Kahu 

 were probably of mixed Maruiwi descent ; while all would be much influenced 

 by the later-arrived Maori tyrants. 



Matorohanga has preserved some descrijDtive notes of the Maruiwi, which 

 conform in many respects with what is known of the Moriori. At the same 

 time, many of the characteristics recorded appear also in the descriptions 

 of the mixed dwellers on the island of Rangiatea, on which Whatonga was 

 cast away. But this fact is not very helpful, for though we may identify 

 Rangiatea with Raiatea, near Tahiti, we know nothing of the inhabitants 

 of that island eight hundred years ago, or of whence they came. 



We may now turn to the language. For our knowledge of this we are 

 indebted almost entirely to the patient and sympathetic investigations of 

 the late Mr. Alexander Shand, who resided on the island for many years. 

 A vocabulary by Mr. Deighton (Apfendix to the Journals of the House of 

 Representatives, G.-5, 1889) contains equivalents for nearly nine hundred 

 English words. About sixty of his Moriori words are not recorded by Shand. 



Mr. Shand collected a number of traditions and legends during the 

 years 1868-1869, when, as he says, " the old people could speak their own 

 language." The information thus obtained formed the basis of a series 

 of articles in the Journal of the Polynesian Society (vols. 3-7). f in which 

 Mr. Shand included original Moriori matter enough to fill about forty-four 

 pages of the Journal. 



Moriori has been described as "" a corrupt subdialect of New Zealand 

 Maori " : and when the writer began work upon the recent edition of the 

 Maori Dictionary it was suggested that Mr. Shand should be invited to 

 contribute a list of Moriori words with a view to their incorporation in 

 the dictionarv. To this he readily agreed, and, though much hampered 

 by ill-health, he com])iled a vocabulary of some 2,500 words, many of 

 which are illustrated by examples. He completed the work in 1910, the 

 MS. reaching New Zealand by the mail immediately preceding that which 

 brought the news of his tragic death. With him, unfortunately, perished 

 a considerable amount of additional matter which he had hojied to 

 publish ; and we were de})rived of his help in elucidating cjuestions arising 

 out of the vocabulary he had compiled. An examination of the voca- 

 bulary forced the conclusion that the opinion making Moriori merely a 

 subdialect of Maori requires revision, and it was decided to hold it back 

 for independent publication.! 



As a matter of fact, Moriori appears to be farther removed from Maori 

 than the dialects of many of the islands of the Pacific. Peculiarities of 



* E. Dieffenbach, Journ. Boy. Geog. Soc, vol. 11, p. 207, 1841. Bishop Selwyn 

 took a car'eful census, and found 2t'>8, iiicludino; children. 



j Tliese articles have been republished, and form vol. 2 of the Memoirs of the Poly- 

 nesian Society. References herein are to the pages of this volume. 



f The copy is now almost ready for the press. 



