A grammar and dictionary of the Malay language : with a preliminary ...

cclvi
BISSERTATIOX.
that the migration actually took place. The course of the
winds would probably be more favourable, and the actual
distance shorter ; but besides this, the dialect of the Marquesas
approaches nearer to that of the Sandwich islands than that of
the Navigator islands. In making a comparison between the dif-
ferent dialects of the Polynesian, their phonetic character, their
grammar, and their words generally being the same, Ave are
necessarily restricted to mere differences of pronunciation, or
the possession of more or less of the Malayan element. The
dialect of the Navigator islands has the four following letters,
f, g, s, t, which are wholly wanting in the dialect of the Sand-
wich islands; but the latter has all the consonants of the
Marquesa, except f and t, which exist in every dialect of the
Southern Pacific. The Sandwich island, indeed, may be
virtually said to have these also, for it uses all the Marquesa
words in which they are found, converting the f into an aspirate,
and the t into k,— a practice in both cases peculiar to itself.
Indeed, the Sandwich island, in its partiality for the guttural k,
goes farther than this, for it sometimes substitutes it for the
nasal n. With respect to Malayan words, they are, with few
exceptions, the same in number and sense in the INIarquesa and
Sandwich island; being rather more numerous, and the pro-
nunciation somewhat better preserved in the first than in the
last. On the contrary, the Malayan words in the dialect of the
Friendly islands, as far as our information will enable us to
judge, are far more numerous, and much nearer to the originals,
than either in the Marquesa or Sandwich island dialects.
The greatest difficulty is in attempting to account for the
peopling of New Zealand with the Polynesian race, situated,
as it is, in a temperate climate, in the region of variable winds
and storms, and moreover, at so great a distance. The nearest
point of the tropical chain of islands which I suppose to have
been the cradle of the Polynesian race to New Zealand, is the
island of La Sola, belonging to the Friendly group, in about
the 21° of south latitude, and the 18t° of east longitude. The
nearest part of New Zealand to it is in about 31° south latitude,
and 170° of east longitude; so that between the chain of
tropical islands and the isles of New Zealand there lie 13° of