name of Rata, which could easily be proved, and the deeds of this one have been confused with those of others, through causes which will be suggested in the next subject dealt with.
Taken altogether, we thus see that there is a fair amount of agreement amongst these tables, sufficient I think to justify us in assigning approximate dates to a number of important epochs in Polynesian history, which are given at the end of this volume. As we proceed, it will be seen how the dates fit into the traditions derived from various sources.
Having shown the data relied on to fix the dates in Polynesian history, the geographical evidence as to their whence, deduced from the traditions, will now be adduced.
CHAPTER III.
NAMES OF THE TRADITIONAL FATHERLAND.
Hawaiki.
With all branches of the race are to be found names of places, retained in the traditions, that refer to ancient dwelling places which were occupied by the people in the remote past—indeed the number of such names is very great, but only a few, comparatively speaking, can now be identified with certainty. Of these names Hawaiki—the Maori form of the word—is the principal, and is known to nearly every branch of the race, though it varies in form from island to island according to the changes that have taken place in the language since the dispersion. The
