A 4 7 8 V O Y A G E R O UN D THE WORLD.
1773- We did not find that fonoroufnefs in the Tonga-Tabboo
Oc t o b e r .- n »
dialed, which is prevalent in that of Taheitee, becaufe the
inhabitants of the former haVe adopted the E, K., and S, fo
that their language is more replete with confonants. This
harlhnefs is compenfated however by the frequent ufe of
•the liquid letters, L, M, N.; and of thefofter vowels E and I,
to which we mud add that kind of finging tone, which
they generally retain even in common converfation. .... .
But it is time to return from this digreffion.
We did not part from our friends till fun-fet, promifing
to return to them once more the next morning. Our (hips
were well provided with bananas, yams, and coco-nutst
and, confidering the fmall fize of the ifland, as well as our
ihort flay, fixty or eighty hogs, befides a vail number of
large fowls, were a furpriling acquifition. During our flay
we had fearched the country in vain for water, and the
mailer had been Lent to the eaftward to furvey Maria Bay,
and the low ifles which fhelter that harbour. The fituation
.of thefe illands he found very exadly reprefented in the
charts of the ever accurate Tafiman, and on one of them
where he landed, he faw an aflonilhing- number of fpeckled
water-fnakes, with flat tails, which are harmlefs, and dif-
tinguilhed in the fyftem of Linnasus, by the name of colubri
laticaudali. In our branch we had not been unfuccefsful,
ithis* little illand having afforded us fevers! new plants,
.among which was a new fpecies of jefuit’s hark, ox.dnchonci,
of
A V O Y A G E ROUND THE WORLD. 4 7 V
of which the bitter bark may perhaps be equally efficacious 0ctob«
with that of Peru. We alfo collected feveral birds unknown
before, and purchafed fome live fpecies, particularly of the
parrot and pigeon tribe, of the natives, who feem to be
very expert fowlers. But it did not appear to us, that the
pigeons, which many carried perched on crooked flicks,,
were marks of diftindtion, though Schouten at Horne Ifland
where the fame cuftom prevails, is of that opinion *. hr
the laft boat which had brought our people on board in the
evening, the Latoo or king had fent a great quantity of
vegetables, together with a whole hog roafted, or dreffed
under ground, as a prefent to the captain. In the morning
therefore, we embarked early in the pinnace, and rowed to-
the fhore to make a prefent in return^ We found the Latoo
fitting at a little diftance from the beach; and captain Cook
gave him a Ihirt, a faw, a hatchet, a brafs kettle, and feveral
articles of lefs moment, all which he received with fullem
gravity ; this deportment he never varied, except once, when
he was feen to fmile as he converfed with Attagha. Among
the. croud, we obferved a Angle man, who differed from all
the reft, by having fuffered his hair to grow, and having
twilled it into feveral round bunches, which hung wildly
about his ears. This man, and the young girl mentioned
page 468. were the only perfons we met with, who had.
* See Mr. Dalrymple’s Hiftorical Colle&ion, vol. II. p. 46..
nogt