336 Essays. 



inliabited by natives who formed part of Te Sauparalia's army of filibusters, 

 or their relatives. , 

 :^ From the accounts given by tlie New Zealanders of tbeir origin, and 

 from what we know of tbe present relationship of tbe various tribes into 

 which they are divided, it appears that the whole native population may be 

 classed under six primary divisions, distinguished more or less one from the 

 other by peculiarities of dialect, of physiognomy, and of disposition. These 

 primary divisions have been traced to the crews of different canoes which 

 found their Avay to the shores of JSTew Zealand. Whether all the canoes 

 which may have thus reached these shores proceeded from several different 

 islands of Polynesia, or only from the two or three the names of which are 

 recorded, we will not pretend to say with anything like certainty. The 

 traditions respecting the origin of their ancestors pervading all the tribes in 

 New Zealand are very similar ; and although many peculiarities of dialect 

 are observed to prevail very generally throughout the members of the primary 

 divisions of which Ave have been speaking, yet the actual differences in dialect 

 between the inhabitants of the most distant parts of the country are incon- 

 siderable, and, in fact, no more than may be accounted for by lapse of time, 

 added to the want of union, and, consequently, of familiar communication 

 between each other. 



It is an inquiry of some interest where Hawaiki, the island generally 

 given by the New Zealanders as that from which they came, is situated. The 

 reply we give is, that it seems most probable that the island referred to is 

 either the principal one of the Sandwich Islands group, pronounced Hawaii 

 by its present native inhabitants, or one of the Navigators, written Savaii by 

 the missionaries who are best acquainted with the language ; both of which 

 forms are dialectic variations of the New Zealander's pronunciation written 

 Hawaiki. 



That so long a voyage as that from the Sandwich Islands could be safely 

 made in open canoes may appear to some almost incredible ; but it is certain 

 that, when skilfully managed, the canoe of the Polynesians can brave very 

 rough seas. Besides, the nearest spot from which the first inhabitants of the 

 country could possibly have come is more than one thousand miles distant ; 

 and we may fairly presume that a canoe able to make a voyage of that length 

 could, under favourable circumstances, have made a voyage three times as 

 long. We know from the traditions of the people that v,'hen they landed the 

 rata was in bloom, which determines the time of the year to have been !Feb- 

 ruary, a season most favourable for making a voyage in those seas. 



In the Navigator and Society Islands, as well as in the islands of Poly- 

 nesia lying further eastward, are found the same race of men as in New 

 Zealand and the Sandwich Islands, speaking languages so much alike to each 



