Blyth.— On " The Whence of the Maori." 617 



metaphysical ring of the Hindu mind. Mr. Taylor calls it " The 

 Hymn of Creation," and he says of it : " There is a degree of 

 thought perceptible in it which marks a far more advanced state 

 than their present." This can be easily understood if the 

 Hindu connection be proved : — 



FiKST Period — Epoch of Thought. 

 " From the conception the increase, 

 From the increase the thought, 

 From the thought the remembrance, 

 From the remembrance the consciousness, 

 From the consciousness the desire." 



Second Peeiod — That of Night. 



" The word became fruitful ; 

 It dwelt with the feeble glimmering ; 

 It brought forth night ; * * * " 



During these periods there was no Hght — " there were no 

 eyes to the world." 



Thied Peeiod — That of Light. 

 " From the nothing the begetting. 

 From the nothing the increase. 

 From the nothing the abundance, 

 The power of increasing, 

 The living breath ; 

 It dwelt with the empty space, and produced the atmosphere which 



is above us, 

 The atmosphere which floats above the earth ; 

 The great firmament above us, dwelt with the early dawn. 

 And the Moon sprang forth ; 

 The atmosphere above us dwelt with the heat 

 And thence proceeded the Sun ; 



They were thi'own up above, as the chief eyes of heaven : 

 Then the heavens became light. 

 The early dawn, the early day. 

 The mid-day. The blaze of the day from the sky." 



Fourth period, land was produced. Fifth period produced 

 the gods. Bixth period, men were produced. 



For comparison, I have selected a hymn from Max Miiller's 

 " Chips from a German Workshop " to go with it : — 



Hindu Htmn. 



" Nor Aught nor Nought existed ; yon bright sky 

 Was not, nor heaven's broad woof outstretched above. 

 What covered all ? What sheltered ? What concealed ? 

 Was it the water's fathomless abyss ? 

 There was not death — yet there was nought immortal ; 

 There was no confine betwixt day and night ; 

 The only One breathed breathless by itself. 

 Other than It there nothing since has been. 

 Darkness there was, and all at first was veiled 

 In gloom profound — an ocean without light — 

 The germ that still lay covered in the husk 

 Burst forth, One Nature, from the fervent heat; 



