328 THE POLYNESIAN WANDERINGS. 



In Motu and Aneityum we find the intrusion of another stem, yet even 

 this intrusion has both interest and value. Aneityum mat new, raw, sup- 

 plies a sense link between Motu matamata new and Polynesian mata (256) 

 raw. The position of these two intrusions is very significant. Motu in 

 Torres Straits establishes for us one point of the migration through the 

 south gate; Aneityum is in that more southern region which is a second 

 determining point in the Viti stream. 



The Semitic stems in the triliteron hdt (hds) and it is impossible to 

 bring into association therewith a stem whose only consonant is a sliding 

 labial centered at/. 



283. 



bau-si, fau si, bau-fau, to fasten together, to plait a mat. 



Samoa : fau, to tie together, to fasten by tying, the tree {Hibiscus 

 tiliaceus) whose bast is used for cord, the kava strainer made 

 therefrom, strings in various uses; fafau, to lash on, to fasten 

 with sennit; faufau, to fasten on, to tie together. Tonga: 

 fau, to fasten up the hair, the name of the hibiscus, the kava 

 strainer made therefrom ; faufau, to fasten on the outriggers of 

 small canoes; hau, to fasten to; fehaiiaki, to tie. Futuna: 

 fau, the hibiscus, the kava strainer ; fah, fafah, faiifait, to attach, 

 to tie. Niue : fau, fafau, to make by tying. Fotuna : no-fausia, 

 to tie, to fasten. Tahiti: fau, the hibiscus; fafau, to tie 



together. Paumotu: fau, the hibiscus. Nuguria: hau, id. 

 Maori : hou, to bind, to fasten together ; whan, a shrub ; whauwhau, 

 to tie. Hawaii: hau, name of a tree with a practicable bark. 

 Marquesas: hau, the hibiscus. Mangareva: hau, id.; hahau, 

 to join or tie with cords. Nukuoro: hau, the hibiscus, a 

 garland. Mangaia: aw, the hibiscus. 



Viti: vau, the hibiscus; vautha, to bind together. 



Aneityum: in-wau, a creeper, a vine. Mota: vau, a pandanus; 

 to mat, to plait, to weave. 



Malay: baru, the hibiscus. Java: waru, id. Kisa: warau, id. 

 Malagasy: fehi, fehizana, to tie, to knot. 



Arabic: habaka, habikaf, to weave, to bind, to intenveave. 



The Proto-Samoan stem is faus. 



In the utter absence of perspective in which these languages appear 

 before us it would be idle to engage upon the attempt to discover whether 

 in sense the tree or the act of using its bast is primordial. In the records 

 before us the stem carries the tree sense without the verb in the Paumotu, 

 the Marquesas, Nukuoro, and Aneityum ; nowhere the verb where the noun 

 does not designate a plant which yields a string. Niue and Fotuna are the 

 only instances of the verb without the noun, and these may be negligible 

 since the vocabularies on which we rely do not attempt to name this tree. 

 For comparison I add the following hibiscus names from Micronesia on 

 the authority of Mr. Christian's researches. 



Ponape: kaVau. Mortlocks: kili-fau. Ruk: sili-fau. 



Pulawat: kini-fau. Satawal: kini-fau. Lamotrek: gilt- fau. 



Sonsorol: giri-fai. Uluthi: gili-fai. St. David's: gini-fai. 



