History

Section of Polynesian History 40 Years' Valuable Work by Mr.

Stephan Savage

From Our Own Correspondent.

Rarotonga, Oct. 10.

IN the hands of the printers is a 700page manuscript of what will be a book of outstanding merit. This work of Mr. Stephan Savage is more than a dictionary—it is an encyclopaedia, giving the historical, natural, traditional, mythi cal and allegorical history of Rarotonga and its Polynesian inhabitants.

, this dicti onary there would iSitimoKi lost i t 0 P° sterit y something of value, as no other man has this knowledge that Mr. Savage has set tO , students of the PolynestbA th S W ?s k J? 11 just be as valuable Egyptolo^ Setta St ° ne iS t 0 stu dcnts of NPw r Voo a i Vag J arriv ! d in Rarotonga from at That ° V S r 44 i y f ars ag0 ’ and had at that time a knowledge of N.Z. Maori with the Rarotongans, he ma^e himself clearly under stood, so he set himself to learn the lan guage. By 1898, he had acquired a goSd of . the ianguage, and com menced then to collect words and tradi tions in earnest. He was frequently em- Government^ 15 ' 118 translations for the cirwif o te C ? l 9 nel w - E - Gudgeon (Re sident Commissioner for the Cook Is.) in nffil a I PP^ mte ?. Mr - Sava^e as Secretary' Official Translator and Interpreter, in wi^ C^£ aci f y he was in constant contact with the language, and therefore was Si e nr ° c °Ji ect an y tribal and family histones oid customs, words and phrases of the older form of the language.

Since that time, he has been constant &fw le Pi tmg u d ?' ta; • on many occasions s itt m g up whole nights listening to the ° ld ° f th / uA sland telling the tales istones of their gods and ancestors While he was interpreter in the Land court, and heard any new word or phrase, he would make a note of same, and after Court he would ask the mean ing and its use.

Both the late Bishop Williams and Dr P. H. Buck have been keenly interested m this dictionary. They have given the author valuable advice, and encouraged Mr Savage to continue and finish this work when often he felt inclined to drop the matter, on account of meeting what seemed insuperable obstacles, and accu mulations of his Government work leav ing him very little free time.

The following extracts from the manu script will demonstrate the enormous la bour entailed, especially when the whole is the work of one man.

“Aitu”: a god, a deity, a spirit. Also, the name of certain ancient tribes who came from the East and settled on many of the islands. According to tradition, some of the Aitu tribes settled on the is lands of Aitutaki, Atiu, and Mangaia. At Aitutaki they were eventually destroyed or driven away. At Mangaia they were from time to time slaughtered, in order to provide sacrifices to the gods. There still exists at Mangaia the remains of a great oven named “Te-Umu-Aitu”, where large numbers of these people were cook ed after being slain.

“Ara-Nui-O-Toi”. (Comp.n.) (Hist.).

Tradition states that this is the name of the first road that was formed complete ly round the island of Rarotonga. It was made by a chief named Toi, a celebrated ancestor of the Polynesians (Maori) who, with a fellow named Te-Marai. came to the island of Rarotonga some 700 years ago—long before the advent of Tangiia nui or Karika. The road was originally paved with stones, the whole of its length, and undoubtedly involved a great deal of manual labour in its construc tion—which indicates that Toi must have had a considerable number of followers, and that he was a civil engineer, as well as being an able navigator. It is a great pity this road, in many places has been totally destroyed, although there are por tions still intact. Toi must have resided on the island for some time; then he sailed away to a land then known as Rangimake-oki-rangi, and latterly as Avaiki-atutau (New Zealand).

“Kauariki” (n). A large deciduous

tree commonly called the “umbrella tree’’. (Bot. Terminalia catappa). The matured wood of this tree is hard and tough and of a reddish colour. It was used extensively in former days in the manufacture of household articles, spears, etc. Particular tree of this species known as “Tamanu” (Bot. Catophyllum inophyl lum) was, prior to the introduction of Christianity, set aside as sacred, but these specially selected trees were never actually worshipped within the meaning of “to worship”. They were made sacred from the fact that the ancient god (or gods) was deposited under the spreading boughs or hung among the lower branches. Shortly after the intro duction of Christianity these sacred trees were, through the zeal of the early mis sionaries, destroyed by fire.

With these few extracts one can see what a treasure-house this book will be.

Mr. Savage has, in his possession, suf ficient material in the shape of native manuscripts to write the whole traditional and historical history of the Cook Is lands Polynesians. But, for this to be ac complished, the N.Z. Government must realise the importance of Mr. Savage’s work, relieve him of his duties as a pub lic servant, and allow him to devote all of his time to this meritorious undertak ing. === Dr. Emile Lebon, of the staff of the “Courrier de Lorraine”, Nancy, France, passed through Sydney in October on his way home, via the East Indies, from the New Hebrides.

Dr. A. J. May, Government Medical Officer at Port Moresby, Papua, returned from leave last month. Mrs. May will re main in Australia until the medical officer’s new residence is completed.