THE GREAT OCEAN. S87 



A v^ocabiilary of the dialects spoken in tlie Pelew 

 islands * is given by Wilson, and it were only to 

 be wished, that the same diligence had been em- 

 ployed in clearing up the grammar, or that even a 

 few specimens, some songs, had been communi- 

 cated, which might give us an idea of it. 



This work has more authority, in our opinion, 

 than a slight collection of words hastily thrown 

 together by a Spaniard, who furnished us with it 

 in Manilla, and which we suppressed for this rea- 

 son. It would only serve to show how differently 

 the same* sound may be understood and taken 

 down by different nations. 



We must apologize for the insufficiency of the 

 collections of words of Eap, Ulea, and Radack, 

 which we likewise communicate, without entering 

 into the formation of the language. Let it be 

 considered how suddenly and unexpectedly our 

 friend and instructor Kadu left us. While these 

 collections were forming, a means of acquiring in- 

 formation had been obtained by us, which gra- 

 dually became more perfect, and the business of 

 revising, correcting, and completing our work, of 

 conversing upon abstract ideas, and treating upon 

 the grammar, had been put off to a time which we 

 were not destined to spend together. 



* An Account of the Pelew Islands, from the Journals of 

 Captain Henry Wilson, by George Keate, the fifth edition, 

 London, 1803- Supplement, p. 63. 



c c 2 



