Origin Of "Kanaka"

Letter to the Editor I AM reading a book by Mr. Marshall, who, with'Wally Hook, travelled over some parts of what was German New Guinea; and one thing I note: he gives his version of the word “kanaka” (which by the way, I thoroughly detest) and states that it is the name given to the natives of the Sandwich Islands. This is wrong. The name is a mutilation of the Samoan word “tanata,” meaning boy. In our slovenly manner of talking, the letter “k” has been introduced into all Poly nesian words, much to their detriment. I refuse to use the word, and wherever I can I drop the “k” and give the word its proper letter “t.” In Apia, one is most conscious of this “slur.” We had a maid, whose name was Sigefu. When she wanted a ride in the “Tauvale” she would always ask if she could ride in the “Kauvale.”

I am, etc.,

J. Nixon-Westwood.

Sergeant-Pilot Basil Chalmers, second son of Mr. and Mrs. N. S. Chalmers, of Fiji, was married recently in Southern Rhodesia to Miss Pax Richards-Edwards, of Bulawayo. He left Fiji 2£ years ago. with the first recruits for the RAF, and is now a pilot instructor at one of the flying schools in Rhodesia.