126 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
years, reached the Tahitian shores from islands to 
the eastward, of which the Society Islands had 
never before heard. In 1820, a canoe arrived 
at Maurua, about thirty miles west of Borabora, 
which had come from Rurutu, one of the Austral 
Islands. This vessel had been at sea between a 
fortnight and three weeks, and, considering its 
route, must have sailed seven or eight hundred 
miles. A more recent instance occurred in 1824 : 
a boat belonging to Mr. Williams of Raiatea, left 
that island with a westerly wind for Tahiti. The 
wind changed after the boat was out of sight of 
land. They were driven to the island of Atiu, a 
distance of nearly 800 miles in a south-westerly 
direction, where they were discovered several 
months afterwards. Another boat, belonging to 
Mr. Barff of Huahine, was passing between that 
island and Tahiti about the same time, and has 
never since been heard of; and subsequent in¬ 
stances of equally distant and perilous voyages in 
canoes or open boats, might be cited. The tradi¬ 
tions of the inhabitants of Rarotogna, one of the 
Harvey Islands, preserve the most satisfactory 
accounts, not only of single parties, at different 
periods for many generations back, having arrived 
there from the Society Islands, but also derive the 
origin of the population from the island of Raiatea. 
Their traditions according with those of the Raia- 
teans on the leading points, afford the strongest 
evidence of these islands having been peopled 
from those to the eastward. 
If we suppose the population of the South Sea 
Islands to have proceeded from east to west, these 
events illustrate the means by which it may have 
been accomplished; for it is a striking fact, that 
every such voyage related in the accounts of 
