THE EMIGRATION FROM HAWAIKI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15646, 27 June 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE EMIGRATION FROM HAWAIKI.

BY J.D.L.

Tradition points to Samoa as the original home of *he Polynesia, race, when-* ij \ .rious ,va,'es of imp ation, most of the present inhabited elands of the Eastern Pacific, and many of the western, were peopled. It is true that some still maintain that we must look for Hawaiki in Hawaii, in the Sandwich Islands. Apart, however, from tho similarity of the name, there is little to support this view. The balance of evidence seems to indicate that Savaii, in the Samoan Islands, is the spot designated Hawaiki by the Maoris. Although the Maori language is akin to that of Samoa (another proof of common origin), the former tongue does not contain the letters " s" nor " v," nor yet the dipthong "ii," Hence by a natural philological transmutation, the Samoan Savaii becomes tho Maori Hawaiki.

Other facts tend to support the assumption that Savaii is tho original home of the Maoris. Is there not a valley in that distant island whose inhabitants still uphold the tradition of the emigration of some of their members to New Zealand ? Again, the much greater proximity of Samoa increases the probability that the group was the ancestral home of the Maori. Indeed, to pass from Hawaii to Now Zealand, the voyagers would naturally take in Samoa on their way. Nearly all the islands from New Zealand to Hawaii, from Tonga to the remote Eastern Pacific, are inhabited by members of the Polynesian race, who speak various dialects of the Samoan tongue. On looking at the map, it will be found that the island of Savaii occupies a position about exactly midway between Stewart Island and the Hawaiian group; that is to say, between the extreme north and extreme south of the Polynesian area— another argument in support of the theory that it was the central point whence the other islands were peopled. May not Hawaii itself be another variation of Savaii. (The letters "s" and "v" are apparently wanting in the Hawaiian dialect, as they are in Maori.) The early Spanish, Portuguese English, and Dutch colonists who founded new settlements overseas often named them after some favourite spot in the mother country; may not the men of Savaii, if they colonised Hawaii, have done the same ?

If we accept the theory that New Zealand was peopled from Hawaii, then the Hawaiians must have undertaken a voyage of nearly 4000 miles across the Pacific, the first half over an expanse of ocean where few islands are to be found as halting-places by the way. There is no evidence to show that the Hawaiians were great navigators, as the Samoans undoubtedly were. Did not Bougainville, the explorer, name this group the Navigators' Islands on account of the skilful seamanship of the inhabitants? From Savaii to New Zealand the distance is about 1500 miles, and there are numerous islands on the way which form convenient stopping-places. Leaving Samoa, the various islands of the Tonga group form, as it were, natural stepping-stones by the way, till Tongatabu is reached From here to the Kermadec Islands is another stago of about 500 miles; the shortest distanco between the Kermadecs and Now Zoaland is also something under 500 miles, so the voyage from Savaii to New Zealand presents no great obstacles to a race of hardy navigators. They could scarcely miss New Zealand, for the North Island would lio right athwart of their path. She stretches out her arms, as it were, to receive them. One arm is represented by the peninsula north of Auckland, terminating in the North Capo; the other bv the peninsula which terminates at the Last Cape. The distance between both capes, as the crow flies, is nearly 400 miles; it is indeed, .he broadest part of New Zealand. The exact point at which the. Samoans first touched tho soil of New Zealand may be disputed, but it was certainly somewhere in the bight which lies between these two points. It may be asked how the Samoans managed to find their way across the trackless expanse of ocean, as they were quito ignorant of the use of tho compass or sextant. Tho want of nautical appliances, however, does not seom to have troubled them much. A fleet of, say, twenty large canoes would set out from Samoa on the way to New Zealand, the position of which was already known. At sea a large canoe with a high mast mid sail is visable for (let us say) at least five miles; if a watch is kept from tho masthead, it is visible for a much greater distance. Let us suppose that these canoes on their outward voyage kept at a distance of five miles apart; they would thus cover a line of advanco at least a hundred miles broad. They could not protend to steer with mathematical certainty like a modern vessel provided with the latest nautical appliances, but tho stars at night and the sun at midday might servo to some extent as a guide. This, of course, would only be a very rough reckoning. But even sup posinc. that the central canoe, on arriving in tho neighbourhood of New Zealand, was as much as fifty miles out of her direct course, the laud would still bo sighted by the outermost canoes of tho line, who would give tho signal, which would be transmitted from one canoe to another. Thus any error in calculation would be rectified and land duly reached. It was in this way that the Samoan navigators and explorers scoured the ocean, advancing with a lino of large canoes which would perhaps cover an extent of over a hundred miles. Tho Samoan Islands are situated in that part of tho Pacific which is the most thickly studded with islands in all directions. Advancing in this extended formation, they could scarcely travel more than a day or two in any direction without making land somewhere.

As a method of navigation it was not so dangerous as might appear at first sight. If an accident happened to any i,l the canoes, there were plenty close by to render assistance. In the tropical Pacific violent storms are not frequent, but even a cyclone presented no great difficulty to such skilful navigators, who were also expert swimmers, almost amphibious in fact. The. canoes carried an ample supply of provisions, which might bo supplemented by fish iaught on tho way, or by touching at some islet where water and fruit were plentiful. In fact, the Samoan navigators were perhaps safer than the passengers on a great ocean liner. Have we not seen of late how two uf these, equipped with wireless telegraphy, and nil the newest life-saving appliances, were each hurled to tho bottom of the ocean in a few minutes' time, with the loss of over a thousand lives in each case ? Such accidents coald not have happened to the Samoans, for there was no fear of collision with icebergs or a passing craft. Physically the Samoans are perhaps the finest and purest of the Polynesian race. It is true, this honour, has also been claimed for the inhabitants of Tahiti and the Marquesas group. The muscular development of some of the men is magnificent; they might pose as models for statues which would rival the Farnese Hercules. Many of the women also are pretty, and all are graceful. Here is a woman of refined and pleasant features; her cultured manners and easy dignified bearing might do credit to a granclo dame of the court of Louis XIV. But one must seo them in their native villages, not in towns like Apia, where they have been spoiled by the white man',? "civiliaatiom -