288 REPOKT— 1891. 



the Pacific. The course taken by the original and different 

 heJces from the Eastern Archipelago would bring them, some 

 by the north, some also, doubtless, by the south, of New Guinea 

 (on the south-east end of which some of them remain to this- 

 day), to the chain of islands forming the Solomon and other 

 gi'oups in that neighbourhood ; and, although they do not 

 appear to have made a lengthened stay in these groups — the 

 islands being already occupied by the Melanesian race — some 

 signs of their sojourn are still traceable, such as in the Stewart 

 Islands, Leveneva or Ontong-Java, and other places. From 

 Fiji — where the people are believed to have made a longer stay 

 —from Samoa, and from Tonga, they explored the suiTOunding 

 seas to the east and south-east, discovering fresh lands, on 

 which they settled, and from which, again, other expeditions in 

 various directions from time to time departed on further ex- 

 ploring voyages. The course of their voyages having been so 

 far constantly tending towards the east, and the continued 

 discovery of new lands as they progressed in that direction, 

 naturally led them onward in the hopes of making fresh dis- 

 coveries. A time would come, however, in their easterly 

 course, when the south-east extremity of the Paumotu archi- 

 pelago would be reached. 



Did they extend their explorations further to the east '? 

 It would seem reasonable to suppose that they would do so. 

 Up to this point there had been no break in the continuity of 

 islands, and, led on by the hope of fresh discoveries, they 

 would push out into that great solitary stretch of water which, 

 with few breaks, reaches to the shores of South America. 

 Tradition is silent as to whether they reached this great land. 

 The space of ocean may have been too great for them, hardy 

 navigators as they were, and many a brave crew must have 

 perished in the attempt. The distance of the south-east Pau- 

 motu Islands from the American continent is about four thou- 

 sand miles ; and, although the Polynesians have gained Easter 

 Island, a good third of the way across, there is nothing to show 

 positively that they reached the mainland. On the other 

 hand, there are some things which render it not impossible 

 that they did so. It has been frequently noted that the 

 garment called tiputa in Tahiti and some other islands is an 

 exact copy of the poncho of the ancient South Americans ; and 

 many have seen in the shape of the Polynesian marae evidence 

 of intercourse with the people who built the teocali of Mexico 

 and Peru. Again, the question of the origin of the kinnara or 

 sweet potato {Convolvulus batatus) is still one, I believe, on 

 which botanists have some doubts as to whether it is a native 

 of South America or of eastern Asia. In the former case, its 

 wide distribution all over Polynesia as a cultivated plant tes- 

 tifies to a connection with America in very early days, or the 



