THE ARYAN MAORI.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2144, 13 November 1885, Page 2

THE ARYAN MAORI.

In noticing this work the Evenin|¥feas says:— Under this title Mr Edward Tregear has pub forth an interesting little book, in which he endeavors to' solve the qiiacsto nexata of the origin of the Maori race. He has elaborated a most ingenious theory which goes to prove that the South Ssa Island Maori is in reality of Aryan descent, and, as such, closely, related to the Pakelia, and in his book lie sets himself to prove the following propositions^ 1. That the Maori is an Aryan. ■ 2. That his language and traditions prove him to be the descendant of a' pastoral people, afterwards warlike and migratory. 3. That his languago has,preserved, in an almost inconceivable purity, the speech of his Ayran forefathers, and compared with which the Greek and Latin tongues are mere corruptions! And 4, That this language has embalmed the memory of animals, implements,-Ac., the actual sight of which has been lost to the Maori for centuries, Further, lie suggests that probably 1. The Maori left India about four thousand years ago. 2. That he had been in New &aland as long as that time. Candidly onough, Mr Tregear characterises these as somewhat bold assertions, but to their proof he brings a vast amount of philological study and wide research. Perhaps lie is. most successful in tracing an apparent affinity in his chapters on languages, especially in his comparison of Maori and Sanscrit roots, but lie also adduces somo instances of a similarly too marked to be accidental, between Maori and more modern language roots. JFhus the Maori wiri, an auger or gimlet, ia evidently the same word as the Sanscrit ■ Yri, which is again found in the Latin vertex, Similarly Naku, to scratch, is clearly related to the Latin nocere, which is derived from the Sanscrit nac—the o being pronounced soft. A lurther illustration may be given. Mori-mori (short of branches), mare (a cough), whaka momori (to committ suicide), moremorenga (the end), all are evidently the same, and equally, evidently derived from the Sanscrit nori, to die, from which the Latin mori is directly descended, Less evident on the surface, but when closely examined, no less clear, is the-Maori ingoa, a name, which is predjjß/the '' same as the Sanscrit naliman, the Greek onoma, the Latin nomen, all of which have the same meaning. After adducing many further examples of similarity of words, Mr Tregear, in a most interesting chapter endeavors, and with a certain amount of success, to show that in the modern Maori language are to be found many words proving that certain an 'mals and customs, totally unknown to the modern Maories before the : .araart of the Europeans, must have been famifflfr to them at some former time, As an example, the Maories knew nothing of cattle when Europeans first visited them, Yet, on examining the word tara (the lad of courage) and its many compounds, Buch as whakatara (he challenged), tarahona (he lay in a heap), tararau (lie made a loud noise), tararua (he had two pointshorns) tnru (he ate grass), and many other words, it is impossible not to recognise the Latin Taurus, a bull, and still more so in pohaka (ripped up), pohuhu (there are swarms of them), poria (they fastened him with a ring on his leg), powhiri (he whisked his tail), the Latin Bos, also a bull. From examples like these it is impossible not to believe that at some previous time, a people speaking the present Maori Language must«e beon familiar not only with cattle, Tmh with cattle in huge droves, As Mr Tregear points out, thousands of years ago tho Aryan tribes wore the only ones possessing such numbers of bulls and cows, hence his deduction is, on the faco of it, at least plausible. Similar comparison) are made regarding cußtomß being obsolete and. totally forgotten among modern Maoris, but none the less equallytfoonclusive. But most interesting of all is Mr Tregear's chapter on comparative mythology, These the author brings in viowin almost positive proof of the validity of his contention, and in the most ingenious manner. Space permits no dwelling upon this part of the work at length, but at Borne future date we hope to take it up again. Meanwhile, it is but just to Mr Tregear to say that he has produced not only a most intensely interesting, but a thoroughly valuable addition to the literature of ethnology, and one which should be widely read,