42 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
Ouru and Fana^ who were the progenitors of the 
human race. 
Another tradition stated^ that the first inhabitants 
of the South Sea Islands originally came from a 
country in the direction of the setting sun, to which 
they say several names were given, though none of them 
are remembered by the present inhabitants. 
Their traditions are numerous, though it is difficult 
to obtain a correct recital of them from any of the 
present inhabitants ; and there is but little reason to 
suppose they can impart any valuable information as to 
the country whence the inhabitants originally came. 
Some additional evidence, small indeed in quantity, 
but rather more conclusive, may be gathered from the 
traditions of the mythology, customs, and language 
preserved among the Tahitians, and inhabitants of other 
isles of the Pacific, when they are compared with those 
prevailing in different parts of the world. One of their 
accounts of creation, that in which Taaroa is stated to 
have made the first man with earth or sand, and the very 
circumstantial tradition they have of the deluge, if they 
do not, as some have supposed, (when taken in con¬ 
nexion with many customs, and analogies in language,) 
warrant the inference that the Polynesians have an 
Hebrew origin; they shew that the nation, whence 
they emigrated, was acquainted with some of the leading 
facts recorded in the Mosaic history of the primitive 
ages of mankind. Others appear to have a striking 
resemblance to several conspicuous features of the 
more modern Hindoo, or Braminical mythology. 
The account of the creation given in Sir W. Jones's 
translation of the Institutes of Menu, accords in no 
small degree with the Tahitian legends of the production 
