The Hawaiian gazette., 1871-01-25
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. /.

Nh hpEfuks-i notlce Win mucn pleasure,
your remarks upon Mr. Brigham papers publish
/ ed in the Memoirs Of the Boston Society Of Nat
ural History, 50 far as they refer TO his explana-
tions Of Hawaiian names As yoa have correctly
/ pointed out where Mr.. Brigham has erred in his
I e,ymology Of Hawaiian names. permit ule to
I Indicate one or two places where think that
/ your own rendering Of the meaning Of name
may be somewhat improved, and then enlarge the
subject little by alladngto the nomenclature Of
few Of the Polynesian Islands, aud the inference
as to origin. which that suggests.
Yoa render the word NauGnn -the cold cleft
I or mountain pass But the word is composed
Of Ntss "an elevated place. from the verb Esss
TO swell up. 10 be full or high;- : and Gau cold
chilly : thus literally. the cold highland In
the samoan. We hnd the word Nuu which means
a village or settlement and such was probably
the original meaning applied to this celebrated
I valley on Oahu. In further confirmation Of this
etymOlogy, l would refer to ~the platform or rais-
ed place in the Heiau where the idol or idols
/ stood. and where the offerings were laid" which
was called Max, and was synonymous with Kapa-
az. ! therefore fail 10 see. and beg to be in
formed. how the word Nan can be made to sig
nifty "a cleft or pass Your definition of the
name H0aoluls is probably correct, If the word is
read as you write it, and If il bad always been So
Bu, it has possibly escaped your investigations
tha, in old Nsiss and Kaaos. (songs and legends)
as late even as the time of Kualii. of Oahu, this
place vas called H0H0-HEnE and that the pres
ent pronunciation. Honolulu is comparatively
modern exchange Of u for Z which so many words
in the Hawaiian dialect have undergone. eupAo-
Hics gr1Itia- Aud thus you will perceive that
the original HoaO-nERE suggests different ety.
mOlOgy from the present HoHo-lnln-
thank you for the information that Waipled
is the same as Wai-Hehamska. or lonely, far
New Zealand geography. Permit me to add
that the word MsIaussha, in the sense of sa,
cred has become obsolete in the Hawaiian Ian
guage. but still retains that sense in the old
legends where reference is made to NaH-Hlsla-
i1Hi- or, as some write it. Nau umsI-Iani, e the
sacred, heavenly. dwelling place, or hsbitation :
and here you vii also perceive that the word
NHH occurs in its ancient Samoan sense. In the
Marquesan dialect. the sOri Msa occurs as an
epithet Of gods, as Turned the 6Fst.born of
Atea-" am unable, therefore, to decide
whether ~Mea- or Meha' be the ancient,
original form.
Yoa are very correct in saying that " the mean
iugs Of the names Of the principal Islands are
probably buried in obsearity.r But if their
meanings are obsear=, the descent of many may
be pIainly traced to the Asiiatic Archipelago, and
beyond Thus We find the proionom of the
Island Of Oahu in l. Ouah0u tract of country
in central and. South east BOrQeo, occupied by
Dyak tribes anil 2d. in Ouadjon, State, or
formerly Independent territory, ~ central Celebes
occupied by Bug population.
Mol0k1i. or. as it is called in the ancient songs
and sagas, M1lokai-si-kiad refers itself to Moro
tag Abr0tg, lf0rty. laecording to Spanish, Dutch
and English ortbographIes,l one Of the Moluccas.
Northeast Of GiIolo. The N0luccas we're called
By P'oIOmy, snA other ancient geOgraphers. the
Surdas.r and his name is referred to BY Span
ish naviga;ors of the 10Th century as collective
name for the whole group. before the name Of the
Moluecas obtained. Our Molokai a. Haa.
therefore, or Aol0kai-1- -Siaa as it would be pro-
nounced in the Samoan dialect. points very
plainly to the derivation Of its name, as well as
10 the people who named it
Har1ii Srraii H1,caiEi. AraiEi and Harai,
as differently pronounced, is the special name Of
the principal island in these separate groups /,
Is a compound Of Halca or lS1lra. and ii or Xxi,
The former Of which Is the proper name, and the
latter the descriptive adjunct or epi5het This
name both in its single and compound form, re-
fsrs itself to .S1,rai, on the North coast Of Ce-
ram; to Sa,caii 10 the Southwest Of Borneo
10 Araiya on the South coast Of Ceram; TO
DjDra 4 river on the East coast Of BOrneo 10
Djara or .Jalsa. the second Of the Sunda Islands.
knoEn to Marco Polo IN the l4th century. under
The name Of CGrq; known to the Arab traders
Of the 9th century. as the Empire Of Z1paya, or
Z1Pags, and, jointly with Sumaira- known to
PtolDmy. in the "a century. as .Ia5G-diu or
.Ja5a-d,0s fns,aEa Notwithstanding the na-
iional vanity Of the Hindu -MaIayan historians.
who claim that the island received its present
name from Hindu conslasroFs in the first century
after Christ. thsse various readings Of the same
one name,-Hava- Djasa, Java. CiaHs. Jaba,
aud Zaba, -Poin, Is still farther vest TO that
Cashite- Arabian Z75a o. Sa5a whose commerce
and colonies had visited and settled. and moulded
TO iss osn civilization and culture both the coasts
Of India and the Indian Archipelago long before
the Eedic Arians had crossed the Sarasssti-
LeA3a- Of the Hsusiian group. and Lsfuka. Of
the Tonga group, refer to La5onk- province on
the North side Of BOraeo-
EahaE, Hawaiian group. points 70 Lif1o. on
the Island Of Timor-
Tarao. cue Of the Friendly Isles. owes its
nans 10 BaBao, the ancient name Of the bay Of
Coapang. and probably Of ,he shoIe island before
the MaiAys Conquered. settled and named It
TInOr-
Morsa, or Eimeo, an IsEand West Of Tahiti,
finds Is nzmezaks IN the MoEea mountain range
II the east Of Java
Taio1- hay in Nukahivs- Marquesas group,
looks 10 Raioa. oDe Of the Molacezs, West Of
GiIolo and several Others, cot to proIong this
arsscse. which furnish great aud cumulative eyi-