296 REPORT— 1891. 



these people, I find that the numbers of generations are as 

 follows: By the Maoris, thirty-three; by the Hawaiians, 

 thirty-four ; and there is some reason for believing that this 

 same person was known to theTongans, thirty-four generations 

 ago. This remarkable agreement shows that there is a value 

 to be attached to these genealogies that might have been unex- 

 pected. 



T have referred to this subject here, though not immedi- 

 ately connected with that of my paper, as evidence of the 

 authenticity of the oral traditions on which is based the 

 extent of geographical knowledge of the Polynesians. If their 

 genealogies can be shown to be correct within certain limits, 

 their other traditions will be equally so, preserved as they have 

 been with the greatest care, handed down from father to son 

 by a priesthood often specially set apart for this particular 

 purpose. No one doubts that the Iliad was thus handed down 

 from generation to generation long before it became finally 

 fixed in writing, nor should there be any more difficulty in 

 believing that the Polynesian traditions could be preserved in 

 poetry and song in the same manner. 



In the foregoing remarks I have confined myself to Poly- 

 nesia generally — properly so called — and have not touched on 

 the geographical knowledge which obtained amongst the 

 kindred peoples of Micronesia or of Melanesia ; nor have I even 

 hinted at the voyages which must have been made by the race 

 which there are strong reasons for believing preceded the 

 Polynesians in the Pacific. Information as to this race is 

 almost entirely wanting. We can, indeed, only surmise that 

 there was such a race from the remains which are found 

 scattered from the Caroline Archipelago to Easter Island. 

 These antiquities are so foreign to the genius of the Polynesian 

 that we are forced to conclude that they had no hand in their 

 construction — a fact which is borne out by their entire ignorance 

 of the meaning of them ; nor are they able to give any account 

 of the origin of them. Their presence in so many of the 

 islands occupied by the Polynesians and Micronesians merely 

 serves to excite our curiosity without satisfying it. Let us 

 hope that before too late efforts will be made to preserve all 

 that can be ascertained about them, and thus in process of 

 time we may be able to add another and more iiateresting 

 chapter to the History of Discoveries in the South Seas. 



In the notes which follow I have given the names of places 

 recorded in such of the Polynesian traditions as I have had 

 access to, and as known to each group or island, and I have 

 included amongst them some names the identification of which 

 has not yet been accomplished, in the hope that those who 

 may care to read them will be able to fill up the gap. I am 



