Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/101

POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES. BS Indian corn, sugar cane, &c. ; words connected with the necessary arts, such as modes of husbandry, weaving, the names of the useful metals, and of do- mestic animals. The w^ord for weaving, the shuttle^ the warp and the woqfi are, as far as my informa- tion extends, the same in every language of the Archipelago. Iron and gold are generally known by the ss^me terms ; but silver and copper, of fo- reign introduction, are usually known by a Sans- krit name. The domestic animals are commonly known by one general name ; while the wild ones of the same race, in those countries where they are indigenous, have a distinct name in each sepa- rate dialect. Words connected with arts so simple and neces- sary as to imply no invention, but which must at once have occurred to the most untutored savages, will be found distinct in each language. In such arts, the use of the rattan and bamboo, the na- tive and abundant growth of every country of the Archipelago, is perpetually implied, and these plants, therefore, retain their primitive names in every separate language. One of the most striking examples of the influ- ence of a general Polynesian language in the civi- lization of the ruder tribes, may be adduced from a collation of the numerals of the different langua- ges. We are not to suppose that even the rudest tribes required to be taught the rudiments of an art which has its origin in the very nature of man