APPENDIX. 455 



hand, it has sketched over the Indian Ocean to Madagascar, 

 50 degrees to the westward, — thus reaching, chiefly within the 

 tropics, over 200 degrees of longitude, or 20 degrees more than 

 half the circumference of the globe. This same language also 

 prevails from the Sandwich Islands, in lat. 23° 30' N., to New 

 Zealand, in lat. 46° S., thus spreading in a direction north and 

 south over 70 degrees. The latter two clusters of islands, although 

 nearly 5000 miles apart, appear more closely allied to each other 

 by language than, with one or two exceptions, either of them 

 is united in the same manner to any of the intervening groups. 

 The researches of Sir George Grey *, late Governor-in-Chief of 

 New Zealand, as well as those of Mr. Hale of the United States' 

 exploring expedition, and of CajitainErskine of H.M.S. " Havan- 

 nah," and others, furnish conclusive evidence that the inhabitants 

 of the islands of Eastern Polynesia have a common origin ; while 

 some of the legends published by Sir George Grey would seem 

 to intimate, that the relations between the Sandwich Islanders 

 and the inhabitants of New Zealand must have been more than 

 ordinarily close. The Haivaiki, so conspicuous in the ancient 

 traditions of New Zealand, as the country whence its population 

 was derived, would seem to indicate a near relationship with Ha- 

 waii, the present name of the largest of the Sandwich Islands, 

 and may probably connect both with Sawaii, the largest of the 

 Navigator's group, and situated midway between them. The pro- 

 bability that the h of the Eastern Polynesians has been supplanted 

 by the s in the dialect of the Navigator's Islanders favours this 



* Polynesian Mythology, and Traditional History of the New Zealand Races. 

 This work hy Sir G. Grey is not only extremely interesting, but valuable on 

 account of the information it contains ; and it is earnestly to be desired that 

 the missionaries in those regions, or other persons equally well qualified, should 

 be able, without neglecting more important duties, to collect, while it is still 

 possible to do so, and presence, as has been done to some extent in the " Samoan 

 Eeporter," the legendary history, and even the fabulous mythology of other 

 portions of the same widely-scattered family. Such records, besides proving 

 serviceable in communications with existing races, would be deeply interesting 

 to future generations of the people, whose destiny, it is to be hoped, is not ex- 

 tinction, but amalgamation with the civilised and Christian races, whose do- 

 minion is so rapidly advancing in those distant regions. 



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