Atkinson. — The Aryo- Semitic Maori. 553 



The magnitude of Mr. Tregear's undertaking will be apparent 

 when you remember that, though many have tried, no one, in the 

 opinion of some at least of the greatest living philologists, has 

 hitherto been able to bridge the chasm which separates the 

 Aryan h'om the Polynesian languages, any more than that 

 between the Aryan and the Semitic ; indeed, if I understand 

 Professor Whitney rightly, in his opinion, and that of others, 

 with the means at present available it cannot be done. 



And, evidently, Mr. Tregear is fully conscious that be is 

 undertaking a great task. It is not one, but all the learned 

 men of Europe he hopes to set right. Speaking of Dr. Latham's 

 view, " that the Polynesian languages show a thoroughly insular 

 or oceanic character," he says: "It is this mistake, made by 

 all the other European scientists also, which it is my endeavour 

 to correct." And he enters upon the work with a corresponding 

 confidence ; indeed, it is not likely that, without unusual 

 courage, he would ever have undertaken such a task, much less 

 have carried it through. " I will now," he says,* "proceed to 

 state certain facts, on which I have such reliance that I feel 

 positively assured, if any one will take the trouble to follow my 

 reasoning, he will share my convictions before he reaches the 

 end of this small work, however incredulous he may be at the 

 outset." What these convictions are, he states at the end of 

 his Introduction, distinctly, and with considerable force ; with- 

 out any of that unpleasant hesitancy which so often charac- 

 terizes men of science dealing with questions of remote antiquity. 

 He says : — 



" I now proceed to assert — 

 " Positively, 



"1. That the Maori is an Aryan. 



"2. That his language and traditions prove him to be 

 the descendant of a pastoral people, afterwards 

 warlike and migratory. 



" 3. That his language has preserved, in an almost in- 

 conceivable purity, the speech of his Aryan fore- 

 fathers, and compared with which the Greek and 

 Latin tongues are mere corruptions. 



" 4. That this language has embalmed the memory of 

 animals, implements, &c., the actual sight of which 

 has been lost to the Maori for centuries. 

 "Probably, 



" 1. That he left India about 4,000 years ago. 



" 2. That he has been in New Zealand almost as long as 

 that time. 



" To prove these bold assertions is my task in the following 

 chapters." 



• " The Aryan Maori," p, 5. 



