140 cook's voyage to dec. 



probably more amusements of this sort, which afford 

 them at Jeast as much pleasure as skaiting, which is 

 the only one of ours, with whose effects I could com- 

 pare it. 



The language of Otaheite, though doubtless radi- 

 cally the same with that of New Zealand and the 

 Friendly Islands, is destitute of that guttural pro- 

 nunciation, and of some consonants, with which 

 those latter dialects abound. The specimens we have 

 already given, are sufficient to mark wherein the va- 

 riation chiefly consists, and to show that, like the 

 manners of the inhabitants, it has become soft and 

 soothing. During the former voyage, I had col- 

 lected a copious vocabulary, which enabled me the 

 better to compare this dialect with that of the other 

 islands ; and, during this voyage, I took every op- 

 portunity of improving my acquaintance with it, by 

 conversing with Omai before we arrived, and by my 

 daily intercourse with the natives while we now re- 

 mained there. # It abounds with beautiful and figur- 

 ative expressions, which, were it perfectly known, 

 would, I have no doubt, put it upon a level with 

 many of the languages that are most in esteem for 

 their warmth and bold images. For instance, the 

 Otaheitans express their notions of death very em- 

 phatically, by saying, " That the soul goes into 

 darkness : or rather into night." And, if you seem 

 to entertain any doubt, in asking the question, " if 

 such a person is their mother," they immediately 

 reply with surprize, " Yes; the mother that bore me." 

 They have one expression that corresponds exactly 

 with the phraseology of the scriptures, where we 

 read of the " yearning of the bowels." They use 

 it on all occasions, when the passions give them un- 



* See this vocabulary, at the end of the second volume of Cap- 

 tain Cook's second voyage. Many corrections and additions to it were 

 now made by this indefatigable inquirer ; but the specimens of the 

 language of Otaheite, already in the hands of the public, seem 

 sufficient for every useful purpose. 



