CHAP. VI.] THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 91 



in the last instance have come from the islands of 

 Hawaii, and whether there is a natural possibility 

 or probability for such a derivation, we encounter 

 difficulties which it is probable will never be sur- 

 mounted. All that we can do in the obscure his- 

 tory of the early migrations of these races is to 

 group the different islands according to the rela- 

 tionship that exists between their inhabitants in re- 

 gard to language and customs, and to see whether 

 there is anything in the traditions of the people 

 to confirm these signs of relationship. There is 

 such affinity between the dialects of the natives of 

 Hawaii and those of New Zealand, and to a far 

 greater extent than that common tie which unites 

 all Polynesians. Shrubs and trees of the same genus, 

 although of different species, bear the same names in 

 New Zealand and in the Sandwich Islands ; the kawa 

 (made from the Piper methysticum) is not drunk in 

 New Zealand, but in the latter country the Piper 

 oxcelsum bears the same name ; the rata and aki 

 are kinds of Metrosideros in New Zealand and in 

 the Sandwich Islands ; the ti is a Dracaena, or rather 

 Cordyline, in both: the physical features of the 

 natives are similar, as is also the character of their 

 sculpture, manufactures, &c. According to the 

 traditions current in New Zealand, their fore- 

 fathers had a long voyage from the eastward be- 

 fore they arrived at that island. Can we trace in 

 the natives of Easter Island, who, according to 

 those navigators that have visited them, . are more 



