620 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 



I would venture the opinion that the Sakalava, the Ketsileo, and 

 other coastal tribes of Madagascar, differing from the Hovas as the 

 Fijians do from the Polynesians, will be found eventually to be closely 

 allied with the people in the western Pacific. 



5. Religion. 



At some time in their history the Polynesians came in contact with 

 the Hamitic race, and throughout the Pacific we find traces of the 

 Cushite cult. 



Sabaism. — The early Polynesians were sun worshippers. '■'■ Ra^^ was 

 the sun-god of Egypt. Ra or la is the word for sun throughout Eastern 

 Polynesia. '■'Sin" was the Akkadian moon-god; "• Sitiu" the moon- 

 god of the Babylonians. Aiasina'is the Polynesian word for moon, and 

 " Sina " is the woman in the moon. Sinqa is the Fijian for sun. Pele, 

 the goddess of fire of the Sandwhich Islands is the Polynesian pronun- 

 ciation of Bel or Baal, the sun-god of the Phoenicians. New Britain, 

 Pila. 



Stone Worship. — Phoenician batulia = Fijian vatu, a stone ; New 

 Britain, nmt. Stone worship is found in Fiji and other groups of the 

 west Pacific. 



Circumcision. — Practised by the Fijians and Polynesians. 



Human Sacrifices. — Common among the Polynesians. 



Ancestor Worship. — Practised by the Papuans. 



6. Manners, Customs, Folklore, Etc. 



1. Exogamy (marrying out of the clan). — In New Britain, e.g., for 

 marriage purposes, the people are divided into two clans, called Picka- 

 luba and Maramara. A man must not, on pain of death, take a wife 

 from his own clan. Same custom among the Australian aborigines, the 

 Brahmins of India, and the North American Indians, et al. 



2. Totems — The totem of the Athenians was a grasshopper. The 

 totems of the New Britain clans are two species of grasshopper, the 

 " iffm" and the " ho kilalei.^' 



3. Descent through the Mother (Matriarchy). — Prevailed among the 

 early Arabs, Akkadians, et al. The same custom is found among the 

 people of the New Britain group. The children belong to the mother's 

 clan, not to the father's. Among the Fijians and Polynesians, rank 

 depends on the mother. 



4. Land Latvs. — On New Britain, a man's land descends, not to his 

 own children, who belong to the mother's clan, but to his sister's children, 

 who belong to his own clan. In this way the land always remains in the 

 same clan. 



5. The Hindu law, that a wife must not eat with her husband, pre- 

 vails throughout Western Polynesia. 



6. The system of kinship among the Polynesians is the same as 

 that prevailing among the races of India, et al. (Fison.) 



