184 



ETHNOGRAPHY. 



in search of a better land (for it is expressly stated that the god would 

 not dwell at Mbengga because the ground was stony). During their 

 residence at Rewa, the intercourse between them and the Viti, whose 

 head-quarters were at Verata, was naturally much greater than before ; 

 and it resulted in the latter adopting the religion and garb, as well as 

 many of the customs of their more civilized neighbors, a fact typi- 

 fied in the removal of Ndengei to Verata, leaving Rewa under the 

 charge of the Tongan deity Wairua. There is no such god as this 

 in the Tongan pantheon, and no such word in their vocabulary ; but 

 in the dialect of New Zealand, rvairua signifies a spirit, and is ap- 

 plied to all divinities. Such may have formerly been its meaning in 

 Tongan. 



That the Tonga people really advanced from Ra to Mbengga and 

 Rewa, is indicated by several facts. The western island of Namuka, 

 of which we have before spoken, is situated within the same reef as 

 Mbengga, and is politically, as well as by situation, in close connexion 

 with it. About three miles west of Rewa is an extensive and fertile 

 tract of land, enclosed between two arms of the Wailevu, or great 

 river, and known as the island or district of Tonga. 



The adoption by the Vitians of the religion and some of the arts 

 of their Polynesian countrymen, probably preceded the war in which 

 the latter were vanquished and partially expelled from the group. 

 Of course, the amalgamation of the victors and the conquered people 

 would greatly contribute to the civilization of the former, and to their 

 improvement as a race. 



It has been intimated, however, that the black settlers on the Feejee 

 Group were not, probably, of the pure Melanesian or negro race, but 

 Papuans, that is, having some mixture of Malay blood, as is seen in 

 the inhabitants of the north coast of New Guinea. This opinion is 

 founded partly on the fact that the negro tribes rarely have canoes 

 fitted for a long voyage ; and partly on the presence, in the Vitian 

 language, of several words of Malaisian origin, which are either 

 not found at all in the Polynesian, or, if found, are in a different 

 shape, as 



VITIAN. 



lako, . . 

 rutu, . 

 vula, 



kurukuru, 

 ndra, . . 



MALAISIAN. 



laku, 



raiu, 



wulan, bulan, ... 

 gugur, grugrug, (Bali.) 



POLYNESIAN. 



alo, haele, ... to go. 



aliki chief. 



masina, malama, moon. 



fatutili, .... thunder. 



darah, (Mai.) rah, (Bali.) toto, blood. 



