612 
PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 
tlie timber. It was first stranded at the settlement at the extreme 
west of Peru; but as it was unsuitable for the house which had been 
erected there, it could not even be dragged ashore. Au attempt to 
appropriate the timber for the council-house at the adjoining settlement 
met with similar results ; but at Nuka, at the house “ Tabu n te biki,” 
subsequently called Samoa, the timber proved its right to remain, not 
only by the ease with which it was dragged ashore, but by its suitability 
and adaptability to become the central pillar of the house. 
Tanenitoa, “ the harsh king,” of Peru, held authority over the 
house, lie was descended from Te mafca warebe and Teimone, who 
came originally from Samoa. 
In this connection one meets with the generally known legend of 
the mythical tree that was burnt by Ivourabi in Samoa. The tree 
itself was named 44 Te kai n tiku aba” (the tree that should be 
distributed over the lands). Its root was 44 Te mata warebe”; the 
top of the tree was called “ Te take” ; the main root stem was called 
44 Taubakoa” ; and the fibres of the root were 44 Teimone,” otherwise 
known as Sa-le-jee in Samoa. These were Samoans, but the others 
were people of Peru. 
Such are the legends which abound in those islands to prove the 
fact, for which evidence is constantly forthcoming, that there was a 
time in the remote past when the South Sea Islanders generally 
were in much more constant and vital contact than they have been 
known to be in historical times, and when their skill in navigation and 
their knowledge of the sea was much more extensive and accurate 
than any race of Polynesians can boast of now. 
The Gilbert Island traditions prove beyond a doubt that in the 
islands under notice the Samoan element has been strong enough to 
secure a place in the traditional folk-lore of the race. Their language 
contains abundant traces of this Samoan influence. But the language 
and customs of the people of these islands are not Samoan. These 
will be best approached and competently explained only by one from 
the northern islands of the group. 
4. — EAELY SAMOAN VOYAGES AND SETTLEMENTS. 
By Rev. JOHN B. STAIR , St. Arnaud % Victoria. 
The traditions I have given elsewhere refer directly to the early 
settlement of the Samoan Group ; another, and of a widely different 
character, will now be considered, showing how, as from a centre, 
voyages were made from Samoa to other distant groups and over a 
vast extent of ocean. The records, of which I give a summary, were 
written for me in 1842, and they describe not only the first settlement 
of Karotouga by Samoans, but long-continued and extensive voyages 
undertaken by * successive generations of Samoans, extending over 
many years and covering a vast extent of ocean. The record purposes 
to be 44 The history of the peopling of Earotonga, with the generation 
of the people of Samoa, whence they sprang.” 
The record commences by stating that Tangaloa, or, as he is also 
called. Tupua, was the first chief of Upoln. It then proceeds to give 
a connected list of seventy-three names of chiefs or rulers, the last of 
