Crossing the Sea A verdant rainforest rises out of the ocean to snow-capped peaks. Powerful fiords snake their way into glacial valleys. Rivers roar and meadows blossom. Many consider the land of New Zealand to be among the most beautiful places on Earth for centuries that beauty went unnoticed. No one lived there.

No one knows exactly when or how the first settlers of New Zealand arrived. We do know, however, that they were a group of Polynesians called the Maori. According to Maori legend, an explorer named Kupe left his home in the South Pacific with a great fleet of canoes until he had found a land. He named that land Aotearoa, a Maori word meaning “Land of the Long, White Cloud.” Auckland, the largest city in modern-day New Zealand, has over one million inhabitants.

Scholars are not sure about the legend but do speculate that the Maori discovered Aotearoa more than 1,000 years ago and that they came by boat from somewhere in the South Pacific. The Maori language and culture resembled the language and culture of those who lived on the Cook Islands. Those islands are about 2,000 miles northeast of New Zealand. Some think that is the original Maori home.

Not everyone thinks that the Maori came from the Cook Islands. Some guess other South Pacific islands, but Polynesia goes back even further. Anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl claims that the Polynesians may originally have come from the Americas. He says this because one of the staples of their diet was the kumara, a food like the sweet potato that is native to the Americas. Other scholars feel that Polynesians originated in China and migrated south into the Pacific.

If the Cook Islands are their real origins, then the trip was quite a feat indeed. The prevailing winds in this region blow southeast, a fact that would seem to prevent an accidental discovery of New Zealand. It’s possible that the Maori left their home and intentionally set out to reach land. They would likely have observed the flight direction of migratory birds and assumed that the birds knew where the land was. They may also have used the stars to cross the ocean waters.

This question of their original home is not critical to appreciating their accomplishment. No matter where they started, the trip the Maori made to New Zealand can only be described as exceptional. These people knew the sea.
Use the passage to answer the question.
Read the table below.

Cause Effect
Some people believe the Maori came from the Cook Islands.

Which is the cause of the effect above?

A. Maori culture is similar to the culture on the Cook Islands.
B. The winds in that part of the Pacific blow southeast.
C. Migratory birds leave from the Cook Islands.
D. The stars could help direct the sailors.