Notes on the Polynesian Calendar. -122 



THE words: day, mon.th, year, comparative. 



Day: Malay, ari or liari; Javanese, aivan; Sunda, poivi; Tahiti, ra or la; Hawa- 

 iian, la and ao: Rlarquesan, a; Hervey group, ra; Tonga, alio; Samoa, aso; Stewart and 

 Howe groups, atJw. 



Month: Malay, bulau. (also moon); Javanese, wir/fl^.- Sunda, (//(/an.- Tahiti, ///a- 

 rania, awae: Hawaiian, malania, niahina (moon) ; Marquesan, nia'ania; Tonga, nialiiiia; 

 Samoan, inasina; Stewart and Howe, nieriina (moon). 



Year: Malay, tann. talnin; Tonga, tan (season) ; Hawaiian, niakaliiki. lean (a sea- 

 son, period). 



The week of seven days was introduced into Java by the Hindus. Previously the 

 week was divided into five days, like that of the Mexicans. Their names were : ( i ) /flo-o-;\ 

 blue, or east; (2) paliina. red, or south; (3) pon, yellow, or west; (4) zmgi, black or 

 north; (5) kl'vwon, mixed colour, the hearth or center. The designating of the north 

 by the black color indicates, according to Mr. Rienzi, that this denomination originated in 

 Hindustan where the sun is never to northward, as in Java or other equinoxial countries. 



The ancient Javanese divided the year into thirty periods called woukon, or 360 

 days, and also into twelve months of unequal length, and the year ended with intercalary 

 days. 



At Bali, the year commences about the month of April. The Braminical civil 

 year was the lunar — that of Saka or Salk'ana — and the priests calculated the intercalary 

 days. 



The Javanese have a cycle of seven years, similar to that of Tibet and Siam. The 

 names of the years are mostly of Sanscrit origin and are: i. niangliara. the lobster or 

 crab; 2. nienda, the goat; 3. kalabang, the centi])ede; 4. u'icliifra, the worm; 5. niintonna. 

 the fish ; 6. zvas, the scorpion ; 7. niaieha, the buffalo. 



In speaking of the Javanese cycle of twelve years and the correspondence of the 

 names of the years with the names of the Sanscrit zodiac, Mr. Rienzi adds : " Ainsi 

 nous retrouvons en Oceanic le zodiaque de I'Asie centrale que I'Europe a egalement 

 adopte" — (Oceanic. \'ol. I, p. 168.) 



In ancient Egypt and Arabia the year was divided into three seasons. This was 

 the ancient arrangement in the Society islands. The Egyptian year began with the 

 winter season in or about November, so also in Arabia. The first was the season of 

 sowing and planting; the second was the summer harvesting and reaping; the third the 

 season of waters, time of inundating the Nile. — ( Glidden's Ancient Egypt.) 



NAMES OF STARS IN HAWAIIAN. 



>Castor and Pollux 



Hikianalia 



Hikikaulononieha 



Nana-mua ) 



N ana-hope ( 



Hoku-loa Morning star 



Hoku-ula Mars 



Hikikaulono 



Poloula (also Pohina) 



Memoirs B. P. B. Museum, Vol. VI. — 22. 



Nauaakeaihaku 



Kiipuku 7 stars 



Hoku-aea, a planet in distinction from a fixed 



star. 

 Haunakelekele 

 Makaimoimo 

 Makaamoamo 

 Makaalohilohi 



