374 THE POLYNESIAN WANDERINGS. 



Lakon, Norbarbar, Retan, Pala, Laur, Lamassa, Duke of York, 

 Motlav, Volow : mat, id. New Britain: matmat, makmak, sick, 

 faint. Lambell, King: imat, to die. Buka: nimat, matte, 

 maten, sick; mat, matte, amatte, dead. Pak, Alo Teqel; ma', 

 to die. Sasar: ma, id. Ambrym: mar, id. Sinaugoro: 

 mase, id. Motu: maze, id. Kiriwina: masisi, id. Aneityum: 

 mas, id. Vuras: meat, id. Lo: met, id. Malekula : mej, id. 

 New Ireland (Duffield) : oumet, id. Lifu: ram, id. Leon: 

 me', id. Iai: mofe, id. 

 Motlav, Vuras, Lakon, Retan, Marina, Vaturanga: mate, death. 

 Merlav, Malo, Mota, Maewo: matea, id. Omba, Bierian, Arag, 

 Nggela : matcana, id . Fagani: ma'efa, id. Wango (upland) : 

 ma'ha, id. Ulawa: ma'enga, id. Mosin: wa/a, id. Pak, 

 Sasar: ma' a, id. Volow, Norbarbar: mete, id. Alo Teqel: 

 rae'e, id. Lo: miji, id. Malekula: mejan, id. 

 Macassar : mate, dead. Malay : mati, to die. Malagasy : maty, dead ; 

 matimaty, lukewarm. Kisa: maki, dead. Magindano: to die. 

 Arabic : mata, to die, to become calm (of wind), to soften by cooking 

 The employment of oti in Samoa for the death of a man is not so much 

 euphemism as the paying of proper respect to the superior animal, for oti 

 (219) means finished. To the high-minded Samoan there can be no sym- 

 pathy with Ecclesiastes : "the sons of men are a chance and the beasts are 

 a chance, and one thing befalleth them ; as the one dieth, so dieth the other ; 

 yea, they have all one spirit; and man hath no preeminence above the 

 beasts." 



Not the meanest Samoan sinks to the level of the brute, even in the 

 article of death. The beast dies, the humblest of men at least finishes. 



For them of high degree there is yet more compliment ; the head of the 

 house dies not, but goes to the council (usufono), the chief goes on in majesty 

 (maliu, afio), the heavens are rent in twain (inasaesaelelangi) , and the rain 

 beats down (timuto). Certain families die with circumstance. Death comes 

 not to Tangaloa, he has but gone far afishing (ta'atin) ; and similarly on 

 Asiata's demise the stools of bamboo are swept clean away (tafealetau'ofe), 

 such a fishing has he gone upon. When Tuala goes the very winds hold 

 their peace (matangitongaina); over the funeral mats of Fiame the moon 

 comes tumbling out of the sky (pa'Tdemasina) ; when Te'o's eyes are closed 

 darkness palls the land (polenu'u), and when Mata'afa leaves the earth the 

 heavens are turned upside down (mafulilelangi) . If this be euphemism it 

 is of the nth power. 



In Melanesia we find a considerable area in which the full form of the 

 mate-stem is preserved, and within it is a district at the extreme south of 

 the Solomon Islands in which the t vanishes. Rudely and at a considerable 

 distance Lifu meet may be considered to preserve the full stem, yet with 

 such a t-k mutation as is found near by in Iai mok, in one of Tregear's 

 unprecisely localized New Britain forms, and in Hawaii and in the most 

 modern Samoan. Interlaced with the mate-area is another equally consid- 

 erable in which we find the abraded mat. Aneityum mas rests upon the 

 t-s mutation, which is rather well established; it appears in Ugi haamaesi 

 and occurs again in sa (337) bad Aneityum has. Vuras meat probably 



