22 AFFILIATION OF THE ALGONQUIN LANGUAGES. 



nesian is that both employ the pronoun of the first person plural im 

 an inclusive and in an exclusive form : 



Algonquin— mnsLwint, they and I. 

 kinawint, yoio and I. 

 Tonga — mow, gimowoa, they and I. 

 tow, gitowoa, you and I. 



I may also add that both families of language have special terms to 

 denote elder and younger brother, sister, &c. Such are the main 

 points of agi'eement and diversity that have occurred to me, agree- 

 ments which I think no more extended research can invalidate, and 

 differences which, if not due to purely American influences derived 

 from Northern Asia in the manner already indicated, may disappear 

 in the progress of investigation. In any case the difficulties in the 

 way of conneeting the Malay-Polynesian and the Algonquin systems 

 are far from insuperable. One important feature which the two 

 classes possess in common, and by -which they are distinguished from 

 other families, Asiatic and American, is the absence of harsh sounds — 

 the softness, which has been called the distinguishing characteristic 

 of the Polynesian tongues, and which has attracted the attention of 

 all who are in any way familiar with Algonquin speech. 



I have not had time to investigate the relations subsisting between 

 the manners, customs, superstitions, &c., of the Algonquins on the 

 one hand and of the Malay-Polynesians on the other. Some of these, 

 as tree worship, the use of totems and similar points, have been 

 indicated by Sir John Lubboek. Dr. Pickering makes, I know not 

 on what grounds, but doubtless for very satisfactory reasons, the 

 following statement: "If any actual remnant of the Malay race exists 

 in the eastern part of North America, it is probably to be looked for 

 among the Ghippewas and the Cherokees." The Chippewas or Ojib- 

 beways are the Algonquias with whom it is likely the distinguished 

 ethnologist was most familiar. The long black straight hair, the 

 prominent features, the practice of depilation, and even the copper 

 colour of the American Indian in general, are found in Polynesia ; 

 and the moral traits of the Algonquins find many analogies in the 

 same region. The stage of culture attained by both peoples coincides. 

 The maritime habits of the Malay-Polynesians have simply changed 

 to the fluviatile and lacustrine in the Algonquin, while they serve to 

 indicate the means by which the islander became the inhabitant of a 

 continent. Dr. Pickering testifies with others to the long sea voyages 



