June 1, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



843 



nature of things must have been in use 

 from time immemorial. This fact alone ex- 

 plodes the theory that the dispersion of 

 terms was the result of intercourse. It is 

 confidently believed by some philologists that 

 the old Egyptian word ra (the sun) is still 

 preserved in the la of Hawaii, as in Hale-a- 

 ka-la, meaning the house of the sun ; I and 

 r are still interchangeable in Hawaii, and 

 the word being not only one of the common- 

 est, but also associated with certain forms 

 of worship, has tenaciously held its place 

 through all the varying influence of ages. 



The original home of the Polynesian race 

 was one of the Malay islands — probably Su- 

 matra — and the modern Hawaiians exhibit 

 the primitive state of civilization in those 

 islands ; but the dialects have diverged. 

 The Philippine islands now offer the purest 

 type of speech, since here may be found all 

 the grammatical forms which appear more 

 or less complete in the other groups. These 

 islands, therefore, hold the same linguistic 

 place, compared with sister groups, that we 

 find exemplified by Tours in France, Val- 

 ladolid in Spain, and Hanover in Grermany. 

 By some mysterious law of nature these 

 sections have kept their speech nearer the 

 standard, and may be fairly designated as 

 the purest type of the common language. 



Introduction of Spanish Words. — One of the 

 most potent factors in the modification of 

 language is commercial intercourse. Simi- 

 larity has been noticed between certain Ha- 

 waiian words and those of identical mean- 

 ing in Spanish. They farnish evidence of 

 early contact between the two nationalities. 

 Here are a few examples : 



The words mate in Kanaka and matar in 

 Spanish both mean to kill; poke in Kanaka 

 means the same as poco in Spanish ; piko 

 means the same as pico in Spanish, as in ka 

 piko ka mauna. 



Where do these native words come from ? 

 Does the following offer an explanation ? 



An old tradition relates that in the 



reign of Kealiiokaloa a foreign vessel was 

 wrecked on the south shore of Hawaii, 

 The only persons saved were the captain 

 and his sister. They were kindly received 

 by the natives, intermarried with them, and 

 became the progenitors of well-known fam 

 ilies of chiefs. Counting back through well- 

 established genealogy and allowing thirty 

 years to a generation, the wreck must have 

 taken place between 1525 and 1530. 



Three Spanish vessels left Mexico on Oc- 

 tober 31, 1527, bound for the Molucca is- 

 lands, in the East Indies. Two of them 

 were lost. No other white people were 

 navigating the Pacific at that period, and 

 it seems reasonably certain that the wrecked 

 vessel was one of the three sent out by Cor- 

 tez. Their westward course lay to the 

 southward, and the violent kona storms of 

 the Pacific would carry them toward Ha- 

 waii. On the return trip they went north 

 to latitude 30°, to take the westerly winds, 

 and thus passed far above the islands. This 

 explains why Hawaii, although known to 

 the Spaniards, was seldom visited by them. 

 Old charts in the archives at Madrid show 

 conclusively that the Hawaiian islands were 

 known during the sixteenth century. This 

 bit of history and tradition may possibly 

 explain similar terms in Spanish and 

 Kanaka, of which there are many. On the 

 island of Hawaii may be found at the pres- 

 ent day an apparently full-blooded Kanaka 

 child, with pure South Sea features, yet 

 possessing a white skin and a complexion 

 similar to that sometimes seen in the Span- 

 ish-Moorish mixture. Will any one say 

 that this may not be a recurrence and man- 

 ifestation of certain influences in times past ? 

 Examples are not wanting in our own race 

 where effects appear after having lain dor- 

 mant for generations. 



II. — PHONOLOGY. 



Voiuels and Consonants. — Let us now ex- 

 amine the language from the standpoint of 



