564 Tramach'oiis. — Miscellaneous. 



It is consonant with this that Europeans were often, at first 

 sight (and even afterwards,) taken for spirits, or beings from 

 another world. Captain Cook, as is well known, was even 

 thought by the Hawaiians to be their god Lono (Maori Pumiio). 

 We have, then : itiaori, niaoli, muli (cf. Chatham Islands Moriuri), 

 maiir, and mauri, all used in substantially the same sense ; and 

 this sense — of the word niaori as well as of the others — seems 

 to be, "living, not dead," and so " real, not fictitious ;" and it is 

 only a slight extension of the latter meaning to apply it to useful 

 fresh water [icaimaori), as opposed to useless sea water {xvai tai). 

 Tancjata, I presume, originally meant the same as tangata maon, 

 just as ivai still commonly means the same as icai maori : the 

 adjective in each case being only added to distinguish the real 

 thing from its spurious rival. And here I may note that Max 

 Muller (Lect. ii., 320) thinks the Latin mare, and other West 

 Aryan names for the sea, meant "dead, barren water " (the 

 French ecm morte), as opposed to the living water [Veau vive) of 

 the running streams. 



It seems, therefore, not unreasonable to conclude, provi- 

 sionally, that Mauri and Mauri are variants of one and the same 

 word : which is the more ancient ? In New Zealand, Mauri is, 

 commonly at least, a noun, and is said to be "the heart, the 

 seat of (some of) the emotions" — perhaps, rather, the seat of 

 life, spirit, anima ; and in this connection may be mentioned a 

 word which looks like the root of it, xiri, now used for offspring 

 and, it seems, for other blood relations. Now, it is remarkable 

 that, according to a very high authority, the first man in the Maori 

 cosmogony was called to life with the formula, " Tike, viauri 

 ora /"— " Sneeze, living Mauri .'" Hence, whatever the speaker 

 may have intended by " Mauri,'' is it not obviously more ancient 

 than " Maori," and by far the most appropriate name for primi- 

 tive man ? And if we find an ancient Semitic people known by 

 this very name, are we not entitled to conclude — at least for this 

 evening — not only that they arc close kin to, but are indeed the 

 progenitors of, the Maoris ? 



I will now, to borx'ow a phrase of Mr. Tregear's, introduce 

 you to two sister tongues, Maori and Arabic ; merely premising 

 that I thought if I chose for comparison a language of which I 

 knew only the transliterated alphabet, the power of the method 

 would be the more signally displayed. I need not remind you 

 that, though at one time it was fashionable to derive all human 

 speech from a Semitic source, since the rise of comparative 

 philology the Semitic "roots" were thought too peculiar and too 

 stubborn to allow themselves to be satisfactorily allied with 

 those of any other family. But this difficulty may be left for 

 European philologists ; "my task," as Mr. Tregcar said of his 

 own, " is an easier and more delghtful one : you will be able to 

 follow the derivations with ease and pleasure." 



