388 
ORIGIN, AS TRACED BY LANGUAGE. 
only proves the more recent or remote connection of one with 
another and does not diminish the probability of their common 
origin. Another word which we seem to recognize in the Turk- 
ish hookah, probably the same in substance as the meerschaum 
and ecume de mer, is huka, the Maori for the froth of the 
sea ; when the New Zealanders arrived, they saw snow for 
the first time, which to them would appear more like the 
froth of the sea than anything else, so they naturally applied 
that word to it. 
There is reason to suppose that at least one Chinese junk, if 
not more, has reached New Zealand, and imparted a character 
to the race, as well as an influence on their customs ; that the 
natives where it came would endeavour to obtain the alliance 
of a more civilized people than themselves, and secure them 
to strengthen their tribes by giving them their daughters 
in marriage seems highly probable ; these strangers, too, 
may have introduced the art of weaving, which seems to 
be carried to greater perfection amongst the Maori than 
could otherwise be expected from them. I am not aware 
that either in Tahaiti or Hawaii they had attained a 
similar degree of excellence ; the general clothing in the 
islands being the tapatajpa, cloth made from the bark of 
trees, chiefly the wau, or paper mulberry ; and though the 
making of that cloth has long ceased, yet, traditionally, 
it was once fabricated in New Zealand. The name is still 
preserved in the ante, from which ribbons were formed, even 
up to a late period, but the cloth itself appears to have been 
superseded by the more durable and elegant product of the 
loom ; the finely- embroidered borders of their garments be- 
token a far more advanced state than they can lay claim to 
in the other arts they are acquainted with ; their houses 
likewise seem to indicate a Chinese or Japanese origin, 
built in a similar way to those which are made of bamboo, 
ornamented with arapaki, or lattice work of various colors 
and patterns, they evince much skill, and even elegance and 
taste. 
There is scarcely any work relating to the Polynesian Isles 
to be compared with that of t( Mariner’s Tonga Isles,” either 
