180 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



that in nearly, if not quite, all the dialects derived from the Samoan, 

 as before stated, these words exist ; consequently the people speaking 

 those dialects, (the Tahitians, New Zealanders, Nukuhivans, &c.,) 

 must have emigrated before the words became obsolete in Samoan, 

 consequently before the Tongans had been long settled in the group 

 which they now occupy. 



5. But, on the other hand, it has been several times remarked, that 

 tonga in Samoan signifies, at present, the south (or Tonga) wind, 

 and the word has the same meaning in the Tahitian, New Zealand, 

 Rarotongan, &c. Consequently, the emigration by which these 

 islands were peopled must have taken place after the Friendly 

 Islands were occupied by the Tonga people.* 



In the last two paragraphs are given the reasons for supposing that 

 Tahiti (and perhaps Nukuhiva and New Zealand) were peopled 

 shortly after the flight of the Tonga people from Viti and their settle- 

 ment in their present seat. This deduction calls to mind the infor- 

 mation which we received from the missionaries at the Samoan 

 Islands, that, on some of the hills in the interior, were extensive walls, 

 bearing the marks of great antiquity. The traditionary account 

 which the natives gave of them was that they were fortifications 

 erected during a war between their ancestors and the Tonga people. 

 It certainly is not unlikely that this war resulted from the settlement 

 of the latter in the Friendly Islands. These islands are at no great 

 distance from Samoa, and may have been shortly before colonized 

 from thence, and considered as dependencies. A fleet of large canoes, 

 such as are used by the Tonga and Viti people, suddenly arrives, 

 bringing an army of fugitive, but brave and experienced warriors, 

 desperate from their recent losses. The Samoan colonists, surprised 

 and unused to war, are conquered without difficulty. Some of them 

 seek refuge in the mother country, and the natural consequence 

 ensues, a furious contest between the Samoans and the intruders in 

 the Friendly Islands. The latter, though probably inferior in num- 

 bers, would be (as they still are) far better navigators and more skilful 

 warriors than their northern neighbors. They would naturally be 

 the assailants, and might, at first, commit great ravages, and perhaps, 

 partially conquer some of the hostile islands. Many of the vanquished 



* Thus we can account for the singular circumstance that too, in Tahitian, and toya in 

 Rarotongan should signify both south and west. In the latter sense, it is the noun of 

 to, and means properly sunset ; in the former, it is from the island of Tonga, and is 

 derived from the Samoan use of the term. 



