204 ON THE MALAYAN AND POLYNESIAN 
the Marquesas, however, tins word has the correct meaning of “the 
eye,” as well as the improper one of “ the face,” Although this 
word, however, in its literal senseis misapplied, it is remarkable 
that, in some of its figurative meanings, it is correctly used, as for 
the “ mesli of a net,” 11 the point” or 41 blade ” of a weapon, and u a 
spring” or “ fountain.” Batu or watu is a stone in Malay and Ja¬ 
vanese, but in the New Zealand it means “ hail” and the “ pupil of 
the eye,” figurative senses of it in the two first languages. Rahi, in 
Javanese, means “ the face,” but its literal meaning in the New 
Zealand is “ forehead,” and its figurative a promontory.” 
The Malayan words which have found their way into the Polyne¬ 
sian, are far too few and unimportant to form an essential portion 
of the language, the grammatical structure of which is complete 
without reference to them. In point of number, in fact, they do not 
exceed that of the English introduced, within the last thirty years 
by the English and American missionaries, into the dialects of the 
Marquesas and Sandwich Islands.* These last, too, it may be add¬ 
ed, have undergone the same inevitable mutilations. Thus, to give 
a few examples, a book has become puke ; paper, pope ; school, ku~ 
la; bread, palena ; powder, paora ; a shoe, hilt; the cow, pi/a, 
(beef); the sheep, hipa; riches, mamona (mammon) ; and a church 
(ecclesia), helipulue. 
Although the dialects of New Zealand, of Tahiti, the Marquesas, 
Friendly, and Sandwich Islands, are admitted by competent judges 
to be the same language essentially, there still exist between them 
some material discrepancies, both as to sound and words. 
Thus, in the Tahiti, there are nine consonants, instead of eight, 
as in the New Zealand. It has h, d,f, and v, which the last wants ; 
while it wants 1c, n, and iv, which the New Zealand has. The Mar- 
quesa has but seven consonants, viz. k, in, n, p, t, and v ; and the 
Sandwich Island is the poorest of all, for it has but six, viz. k , l , m, 
n, p, and v. 
* “ Vocabulaire Oc6anicn-Frangais-Oc6anien par L’Abbc Boniface 
Mo shied). Paris, 18-33.” This work appears to be drawn from good ma¬ 
terials, and is.exceedingly well executed. 
