manners o f vowels} and wherever they met a fibdant, or confonant, which'
to their ear was not furiieicntly euphonic, they immediately fubfti-
tuted another o f mOreeafy pronunciation: Cook was- changed- into
tfoote, and George into T eoree.. Th e numerous vowels require a
variation o f dipthongs and accents, to produce a multiplicity of
founds, and a nicety o f ear to obferve all thefe little diftiniriions,
which often occafioned a material alteration-of the fenfe; as at, to
eatj ecti, to copulate} elya, fith } aiya,. to ileal or rob} oiyo,, a
noddy } e-wdi, water}, and aval, th e fo o t} a how, a drefs or cloth }
a hoo, a wind from behind } and eoo, the breatls}. a dog is called
eoree ■, a nail or iionyuree-, and the male genitals,e<-oure.
T h e langauge is harmonious, and by no means harth,when fpoken
in a manly manner, at Taheitee} at Huaheine, feveralpeople had the
habit o f pronouncing whatever they fpoke, in a Tinging manner; and
at the Friendly-iilands, the ringing tone o f voice, in common con-
verfation, was ftill more frequent, efpeeially amongft women. Th e
language o f the Taheiteans, feems not deftitute o f fome kind o f
culture, and thews a degree o f civilization } for they have not only
names for conllellations, and Angle flars, for every plant or grafs,
but even for every infedt, for every worm, every thell, fith, and bird,
haunting their itle, and frequenting their thores} they have names
alfo for all the parts o f their body, and not only fuch as may be feen,
but likewife for fuch as cannot be known but from dilfedlion.
Like
Like the old Britons, and Northern; nations, they reckon not by manners
days} but number the nights, i f they want to exprefs the interval
of feveraldays. As their minds are moil ufed to things that
ftrike the fenfes, they have no proper words for expreffing abftradt
ideas } thus for inftance they call the thoughts the words of the
belly, “ paroii no-te-obooa covetous man is called tahata pirree-
pirre, or piperriee| and it fllould feem they had in their minds the
idea o f narrownefs, or glueing and fticking together, when they
formed the word, for e-pirre has the above lignifications ; a generous
man is called tahata-oowhoroa, or literally, the man of gifts or
prefents } the head o f a human creature they call oopo; that o f a
quadruped or fith, bmee •, and that of a bird poa-arahou}
the t a i l o f a dog is called airo; o f a bird, bbbef o f a
filh eeterre; this lari name is very remarkable, becaufe it is' ex-
preffive o f the ufe the fithes make o f their tail} for ehoe^whateerra,
fignifies a paddle for fleering a canoe, or great boat; and the eeterre ,
o f fith, ferves likewife for the diredlion o f its .courfe in the water.
T h e males o f the human tpecies, they exprefs by the word tane ■,
and the females, by that o f veheine •, but the males o f fithes, birds,
or any animal, are called onee}. and the females, bwha : to that
from thefe few inftances, we may form fome idea of the charafteriftic
points in their language.
T h e common occupations o f the people o f Taheitee, and
the Society-illands, as well as thofe in all the iflands of the Pacific
F f f 2 Ocean