o f courfe, were lefs ftr ik in g than the coincidence o f langu
ag e. Indeed, the lan gu a g e s o f both places may be faid
to be almoft, word fo r word, the fame. It is true, tha t w e
fometimes remarked particular words to be pronounced ex-
aX ly as w e had found at New Zealand, and the Friendly
Iflan d s } but though all the fo u r dialeXs are indifputably
the fame, thefe people, in general, have neither the ftrong
gu ttu ra l pronunciation o f the former, nor a lefs degree o
it, w h ich alfo diftinguiihes the la tte r ; and they have not
only adopted the foft mode o f the Otaheiteans, in avoiding
harfh founds, but the whole idiom o f their langu ag e ; ufing
not only the fame affixes and fuffixes to their words, but the
fame meafure and cadence in their fo n g s ; though in a manner
fomewhat lefs agreeable. There feems, indeed, at firft
hearing, fome difagreement, to the ear o f a ftran g e r ; but
it ou ght be confidered, that the people o f Otaheite, from
their frequent connexions w ith the E n gliih, had learnt, in
fome meafure, to adapt themfelves to our fcanty kn owledge
o f their languag e, by ufing not only the moil common,
b u t even corrupted expreffioris, in converfation with us.;
whereas, when they converfed among themfelves, and ufed
the feveral parts neceflary to propriety o f fpeech, they were
fcarcely at all underftood by thofe amongft us, who had
made the greateft proficiency in their vocabulary, A catalo
gu e o f words was collefted at Atooi, b y Mr. Anderfon,
w h o loft no opportunity o f m a k in g our voyage u fe fu l to
thofe, who amufe themfelves in tracing the migrations o f
the various tribes, or families, that have peopled thp globe,
b y the moft convincing o f all arguments, that drawn from
affinity o f language.
How fhall w e account for this nation’s ha vin g fpread it-
felf, in fo many detached iflands, fo widely disjoined from
^ each
each other, in every quarter o f the Pacific Ocean ! We find Fe'b7n8. rj,i
it, from New Zealand, in the South, as far as the Sandwich '---- .—
Iflands, to the North ! And, in another direXion, fromEafter
Ifland, to the Hebrides I That is, over an extent o f fixty degrees
o f latitude, or twelve hundred Teagu es, North and
South ! And eighty-three degrees o f longitude, or fixteen
hundred and fixty leagues, Eaft and Weft ! How much fa rther,
in either direXion, its colonies reach, is not kn own ;
b u t what we kn ow already, in confequence o f this and our
former voyage, warrants our pronouncing it to be, though
perhaps not the moft numerous, certainly, b y far, the mod
extenfive nation upon e a r th 51'.
Had the Sandwich Iflands been difcovered at an early period,
by the Spaniards, there is little doubt that they wou ld
have taken advantage o f fo excellent a fituation, and have
made ufe o f Atooi, or fome other o f the iflands; as a refreih-
in g place to the ihips, that fail annually from Acapulco for
Manilla. T h e y lie almoft midway between the firft place
and G uam one o f the Ladrones, w h ich is at prefent their only
port in traverfing this vaft o cean ; and it would not have
been a w e e k ’s fail out o f their common route, to have
touched at th em ; w hich could have been done, withou t ,
ru nn in g the leaft hazard o f lofing the paflage, as they are
fufficiently within the verge o f the Eafterly trade-wind. An
acquaintance with the Sandwich Iflands would have been
equally favourable to our Buccaneers ; who ufed fometimes
to pafs from the coaft o f America to the Ladrones, with a ftock
o f food and water fcarcely fufficient to preferve life. Here
they migh t always have found plenty, and have been within
a month’s fure fail o f the ve ry part o f California, which the
* See more-about the great extent o f the colonies o f this nation, in the Intro-
du&ory Preface.
K k s Manilla