Origin and Migrations of the Polynesian Nation. 85 



on the other ; hut in the proportion that we find any of these 

 tribes more highly advanced in the arts of civilised life than the 

 other, in nearly the same proportion do we find the language 

 enriched by a corresponding accession of Sanscrit terms, directing 

 us at once to the source whence civilisation flowed towards these 

 regions.";}: 



'• At first," says the unfortunate La Perouse, " we perceived 

 no difference between the language of the people of the Naviga- 

 tors' Islands and that of the people of the Society and Friendly 

 Islands, the vocabularies of which we had with us ; but a closer 

 examination taught us that they spoke a dialect of the same 

 tongue. A fact which may tend to prove this, and which con- 

 firms the opinion of the English respecting the origin of these 

 people is, that a young Manilese servant, who was born in the 

 province of Tagayan, on the north of Manila, understood and 

 interpreted to us most of their words. Now it is known that the 

 Tagayan, Talgal, and all the dialects of the Philippine Islands 

 in general are derived from the Malay ; and this language, more 

 widely spread than those of the Greeks and Romans were, is 

 common to the numerous tribes that inhabit the islands of the 

 South Sea. To me it appears demonstrated, that these different 

 nations are derived from Malay colonies who conquered these 

 islands at very remote periods ; and perhaps even the Chinese 

 and Egyptians, whose antiquity is so much vaunted, are modern 

 compared to these. § 



In confirmation of this idea of the great French navigator 

 Mr. Marsden informs us that " upon analysing the list of thirty- 

 five Malayan words, of the simplest and most genuine character, 

 twenty will be found to correspond with the Polynesian generally, 

 seven with a small portion of the dialects, and seven, as far as 

 our present knowledge extends, seem to be peculiar to the 

 Malayan itself."* 



The following are a few instances, such as Mr. Marsden refers 

 to, of the unmistakable affinity of the Malayan and Polynesian 

 languages : — 



English. Malay. Polynesian 



The eye Mata (universally) Mata (universally) 



To eat Maccan (Javanese Maa (strong guttural 



Mangan) marking the suppres- 



sion of consonantal 

 sound) 

 To kiU Matte Matte 



X History of Java, by Sir Stamford Raffles, p. 369, 



§ La Perouse's Voyages, chap. xxv. 



* Marsden's Miscellaneous Works, page 8. 



