Page:Hawaiki The Original Home of the Maori.djvu/85

Rh whilst there are indications that in ancient days the cult of the sun prevailed to a certain extent. But so ancient is it, and so little known about it, that it seems never to have prevailed to any large extent—that this cult in fact was learned from some outside race influencing the more ancient cult of Rangi and Papa—the Heaven and Earth cult, traces of which are found in the most ancient of races. The influence of a Semitic connection, on the Polynesians, is very obvious to anyone who will study the language and the customs. Nearly all those who have dealt with the grammars of the various dialects of Polynesia have been struck with the many similarities in structure to be found between them and Semitic forms, but perhaps Dr. A. Macdonald of the New Hebrides has shown this most clearly in his papers published in the "Journal of the Polynesian Society." But the number of Semitic customs to be found prevailing among the Polynesians, is, perhaps, more striking than the lingual connection. The Rev. R. Taylor in his "Te Ika-a-Maui" mentions many of these, and his list might be very considerably augmented.