ORIGIN, AS TRACED BY LANGUAGE. 
385 
a cave made in the earth to keep wheat in, entered by a 
small door or opening on the top, which is closed by a large 
stone or block of wood, this is precisely the description of the 
New Zealand dud or rua, made to hold the kumara. 
The New Zealand word for the sun is raj the Coptic one 
is the same ; the Egyptian rah ; hence, perhaps, the origin 
of the East Indian word Rajah Maha, the great rajah or 
prince, Maha , is a New Zealand word for multitude ; the 
sun being the light of heaven, the prince that of the multi- 
tude ; so the New Zealand word rangitara , or chief, when 
dissected, is ra-nga-tira, which simply means the light of com- 
panies, or assemblies of men, and raj, rule, from which comes 
rex , king. Another New Zealand word of great interest, 
being a root of many, and bearing an analogy to words of 
almost every language, is ha, to burn ; we have it in our word 
candle , in the Latin also, from whence we obtained it, and 
perhaps, in the old word hindle ; it is seen in /< atw, to burn ; 
in Tartary, and throughout the East, even to China, in 
hang, an oven or stove ; and in the hhan, an edifice erected 
for the warmth and shelter of the wayworn traveller ; in 
Maori, hajoura, fire, implies a substitute for the light of 
day ; in hahano, seed, which contains the germ of life ; and 
in hai, food, the fuel that sustains the flame of life. This 
word is also connected with another, and one which 
stands out as a landmark to guide us in the search after 
the origin of the New Zealand race, and that is hava. In 
old Arabic, the word for wine is hahweh* a most ap- 
propriate term for any intoxicating beverage, being the 
substance that burns and carries off the senses. Ka to burn, 
and va or weh, Latin veho, Sanscrit wahana, English wain, 
waggon, and the simple Maori root wa, to carry ;f from 
hahweh, wine, comes hahveh, Turkish, Italian caffe and En- 
glish coffee. Mahomet forbad his followers the use of wine, 
* See Lane's Egypt. 
f Having no vehicle, it is applied to burthens carried on the shoulder. In 
Tahaiti, royalty itself was thus borne ; regular relays of men being appointed, 
as soon as one pair of shoulders grew tired, the royal burthen vaulted from them 
to another. 
