The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1877-03-10

Gus tribes inhAbiting that portion Of the Pacific
Ocean extending. north and sOusb. from the Hawai-
ian Islands 10 New Zealand. and, east and west.
from Easter Island to the FIJI Group. with some few
outlying remnants still further west. No one now
disputes that those tribes. although 20 widely scat
tered, are radically connected by blood, language.
culture aud customs; but their Origin whence do
rived and with whom cospecied, II with any OF ne
great races Of mankind--as well 90 their appearance
In the PAcise-hOw and when arrived. and how dis
tributed-Gre questions ON which mach learning
has been expended with generally neagre and of'en
contradictory results AItces and lneAs, Pspaaps
aud MAlAys. even the ubiquitous Hebrew. through
some one Of the lost tribes Of Israel, have In turn
been proposed az Ancestors q the Polyneslan family.
Each one Of these theories. though apparently plsus-
ible enough until another was started. takes little or
no account Of what the Polynesian family bad 10
say Cor itself on the subject Of ia own origin and
migrAtiOns. Scraps Of legends and particular Gus
toms arc new aud then referred 10 10 proof Of this
or tina, theory. but an analytical and cooperative
statement Of POlynesiAn Folklore has not hitherto
been attempted and the means Of doing Il were
probably not within the reach Of previous writers.
Such Folklore, taken a. . whole. with Ito curious
"reminiscences from by-gone ages Of ereeds. culture.
customs, arts and historical events. 10 an invaluable
factor in solving the ethnie riddle Of Polynesian
Origin,-is the chief evidence OF national unity and
Of extreme antiquity. Il indicates the ultimate flu
sion Of q primary AriAn branch with the Cushite
race, while yet that race ruled supreme over the
Arba LisuM, OF = q four tongue" Of Chaldea. a. wei
AZ lie mixture with the Dravidian, or TnraDiAn race;
from which three-fold connection the rolynesisn
was the ethnic product. That Folklore speaks OF
the migratons Of liz people. By land aud sea. Of places
Of abode and rest, and its carte Dc voyage may be
distinctly traced to the Indian Archipelago and
lands beyond. It's geneaiogie. when critically en-
amined and pruned Of the redundsneies imposed by
dynastic vanity, or by confusion OF legends, lead
back with approximate and probably Historical GER
,siuty 10 about the middle Of the second century ef
The Christian era, or for hf,y-six generstions-to the
period OF wakea-and back Of that give glimpses Of
epochs and events with q precision Of outline and
onen a minuteness Of detail that are truly startling
to those acquainted with ancient history. secular for
sacred.
The writer OF this article has for ths Ian twelve
years and more made IL a special study and . labor
Of love to collect, collate and critically examine the
Polynesian Folklore. lea Legends. Chants. Prayers.
Genealogical. Customs, &C.. and has embodied q
resume Of his labor In q work now preparing for the
press, :. On the Origin and MIgrations Of the Poly
nesian Race, and tho Ancient History Of the Hawai-
ian People to the Times Of Kamshamsha l." The
conclusions arrived at In that work may be briefly
summed up a. follows The POlynesisns were orlgi-
nally members Of the Ariap race. belonging to some
outlying branch Of that race IN The direction Of Su-
siana and a. far az Belouohistsn and the head Of the
Persian Gulf; that here they became acquainted
with, and subjected TO-, Cushite- chaldean Influences
and culture, at time anterior 70 the final ~grammsi-
iosl development Of the Arian language NJ found In
the vedas and the Avesta. or brought westward BY
the Indo-European branches Of the Arian stock
that migrating Voluntarily or driven out from this
abode into India. they absorbed into themselves such
an amount Of Dravidisn blood ~ 10 permanently
affect their color IN tbs same ratio and under the
same conditions 90 the. Vedk Arians we're affected
centuries Afterwards that. geographically. they
left traces Of themselves from the Indus 10 Bombay
and southward;-tbA from which ever side Of fsdIa
they embarked, they are next found Ia possession Of
the Indian Archipelago. from sumatra and Java TO
TimOr and LOuzOn. from which they had. in . great
measure, expelled the Papuan raoe;-that In this
abode, and sill ssbjsct 20 Cushiss eiynisAtiOu, they
remained for long, long, ages, while the Vedio
Arians over-ran India aud while the Cnehie empires
waned and disappeared. until about the beeinnIng a.
the Christian era;--thst. possibly previous 70. but
certainly about that time. they began 20 be Invaded
by a Brahmanized people from the east cosst Of
Deccan, and by the rising Malay power, who finally
HuDiuGate0. exlTpHttu OF tLltlEu Nutm from luN
Archipelago-tha thus expelled, they deboucbed In
the Pacific Ocean and effected a temporary foothold
in the Fiji Group. sufficiently long however 20 leave
indelible traces OF themselves In the Fjian Language
and on many Of it's legends 40 well 40 the customs;-
that finally expelled from there by the hostile Papuan
race, they scattered over the various groups IN the
southern. eastern, and northeastern parts Of the
Pacific now held by them THAT tribal intercoufss
wac Internationally. more or lees. kept up for q long
time between the various branches q the Polynesian
family until. at last. ISOLATION, new conditions Of
life. and other deteriorating causes combined 10 OBJ
literate, TO confuse and 10 over-lay with new aud
more and more crude ideas, the arts, the culture.
the creeds and legends which they brought with
them from their former homes /" beyond the setting
SUM-"
such is the outline Of the results, 10 which a care
ful study Of Polynesian Folklore, compared with
the Folklore and historical and pathological data Of
other peoples. has led the author. Starting with
but believing that every nation, through Its mon
umentary or legendary records. when critically sx-
amined, is the best authority Of iu own past exis-
ence,-he was determined 70 follow the clew which
the PolynesiAns, themselves, should furnish regard
ing their origin, indifferent whether Il led North or
South, East or West, or. as some have supposed. 10
q quondam Pacific Continent, Of which the scat
tened groups are the half-submerged summits.-
geological tombstones, around which a few families.
saved from some mighty catsclysm. we're clustering
in sbjectness and barbarity. 40 ignorant Of their
own past, as they were ignored by otbers.
Such, then, when faithfully c0llated and read
Alright. 10 the story which the Polynesian family has
TO tell Of itself IL IL could obtain q hearing before
the literary Amphiotyons Of the present day. Such
10 its own testimony 10 its own origin, connsxioua
aud migrstioDs. referring 70 times In the far pssf,
in the twilight Of history, ere The Semitic tribes had
emerged from under the shadows OF mount Taurus,
and while the bulk Of the Arian race still nestled in
the passes Of the Hindu-COosh or tended their focks
on the Psnir highlands. And such are. the pssris
Of historical value which, though difnmsd BY age,
by ignorance, by fable. the PoIynesian offers 20 the
worlds knowledge Of the worlds inhabitants, and
in vindication Of his own rights to . common. inberi-
tance with those branches Of kindred race who now,
coming from the East. bring him the light he lost
two thousand years ago.
The work now proposed for publication will oOm-
prise two parts the first, now ready, extending