﻿38 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



tlie Maori. The two theories on the origin of Man, maintained by separate 

 Schools of Ethnography, viz., the 2:)rimordial and derivative, as stated before, 

 affect the question but little. Crawfurd, who supports the former, amongst 

 other arguments adduces, on the authority of Cook, " the ape-like inhabitants 

 of Malicolo, the diversity of tongues spoken in Polynesia, the entire glossarial 

 independence of the Negro tribes of the Andamans, Keddah Wageou, Malicolo, 

 Tanna, New Caledonia, and Torres Straits ;" yet he neglects the more im- 

 portant fact of their near approximation in their physical form, and the 

 common phonology and ideology of their languages ; and when we consider 

 that some of these tribes can only count so far as two, others no moi"e than 

 six ; also, that some are so low in their social wants as only to covet a spear, a 

 fire- stick, and an eel hung over their backs, as warlike material, household 

 goods, and larder j we need not wonder that the whole expression of their few 

 wants require no more than 300 words to enunciate the same ; so glossarial 

 analogy (except in purely primary words), to which the above authority has 

 principally given his attention, is of less consequence than the other two 

 characteristics. To show how glossaries may alter in ages, I may remark that 

 it is common for some tribes to drop words on the death of chiefs, or on the 

 occasion of certain calamities, and others have artificial dialects besides the 

 vulgar one, all tending to change. Thus, the Malays have the common collo- 

 quial as well as the Basadalam or Court language, unknown to the vulgar j 

 but besides this they have the curious Basa Cappor or Camphor language, used 

 by and confined to the searchers of that valuable product. Three languages 

 in one people. Hence very rude tribes are acqiiisitive of words though tena- 

 cious of the original ones, but, as their wants increase, they borrow largely 

 from more powerful neighbours. Thus, without attempting to reach a begin- 

 ning, which the most abstruse science only clouds in unprofitable speculation, 

 I am led to the following opinions : — 1st. That primary terms ai-e the most 

 certain indications of connection in race. 2nd. Wanting primary terms, a 

 connection is also indicated by common phonology and ideology. 3rd. That in 

 the Tropics, as between the black and the red man, language is more permanent 

 than race ; in other words, the obliteration of an intervening race does not 

 destroy the ethnographical links between two distant regions where language 

 remains. 



This leads us to the ethnographical connection between the large island of 

 Madagascar and Polynesia, a proper understanding of which is necessary to 

 the ends of this paper. The theory of the Malay origin, common to the Maori 

 and Malagasi, so generally accepted, has, to my mind, certain difiiculties 

 attached to it that may have escaped the notice of its supporters. Thus, on a 

 careful examination of thirty-three vocabularies of the Indian Archipelago, 

 collected by Wallace, this fact becomes very patent — that of all the dialects 



