136 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



culars (such as the omission of the r and the use of the k], it is unlike 

 both.* 



RAROTONGA, OR THE HERVEY ISLANDS. 



The tradition given by Mr. Williams as prevalent in Aitutaki, one 

 of the islands of this group, has already been noticed. Being desirous 

 of knowing whether the same account was current in Rarotonga, I 

 questioned, on the subject, a very intelligent native of that island 

 whom I met at Upolu, whither he had accompanied the missionaries 

 as an assistant. He informed me that the Rarotongans, like the 

 natives of Aitutaki, considered Avaiki to be the country beneath, from 

 which the first man, Mumuki, ascended, to look for food ; and that 

 Aaitipi, in the district of Arorongi, was the place where he came up. 

 But whereabouts this lower country was, or how the ascent was 

 accomplished, he could not explain. It has been observed, in another 

 place, that, with all the islanders of the Pacific, who live between the 

 tropics, the same word means leeward, westward, and below. A similar 

 use of the words up and down, with reference to opposite points of the 

 compass, is common to most, if not all languages. The trade- winds, 

 at the Hervey Islands, blow usually from the southeast, and Savaii, 

 which lies to the northwest, is therefore as nearly as possible " below" 

 them. It is easy to see that an expression which had, at first, a meta- 

 phorical meaning, came, in process of time, to be taken literally. 



But the most valuable and detailed account which w r e possess of 

 the peopling of any island in the South Seas, is that given by Mr. 

 Williams, at page 165 of his volume. The chief incidents are as 

 follows: Karika, a chief of an island to the westward, called Manuka, 

 first discovered Rarotonga, and finding it uninhabited, took possession 

 of it. Again putting to sea, he encountered Tangiia, a Tahitian chief, 

 who was fleeing from the pursuit of an enemy. As Karika was pre- 

 paring to attack him, Tangiia made submission, and acknowledged 

 himself the vassal of the other. They settled the land together, the 

 former on the north (and west) side of the island, and the latter on 



* For the opportunity of consulting the Marquesan Grammar and Vocabulary of Mr. 

 Crook, I am indebted to the Rev. C. S. Stewart, of the United States Navy, to whom they 

 were presented by the author. The permission to make this use of his manuscripts was 

 previously accorded by Mr. Crook, whom we had the pleasure of meeting at Sydney, in 

 New South Wales. 



