1769 



LANGUAGE 



165 



it appears clearly that the languages given there as those of 

 the Isles of Solomon and the Isle of Cocos 1 are radically the 

 identical language we met with, most words differing in 

 little, but the greater number of consonants. The languages 

 of New Guinea and Moyse Isle 2 have also many words radi- 

 cally the same, particularly their numbers, although they are 

 so obscured by a multitude of consonants that it is scarcely 

 possible that they should be detected but by those who are in 

 some measure acquainted with one of the languages. For 

 instance the New Guinea kisson (fish) is found to be the 

 same as the Otahite eia by the medium of ica of the Isle of 

 Solomon; talingan (ears) is in Otahite terrea; limang (a 

 hand) becomes lima, or rima ; paring (cheeks) is paperea ; 

 mattanga (eyes) mata ; " they called us," says the author, 

 " tata" which in Otahite signifies men in general. 



That the people who inhabit this numerous range of 

 islands should have originally come from one and the same 

 place, and brought with them the same numbers and 

 language, which latter especially have remained not materi- 

 ally altered to this day, is in my opinion not at all beyond 

 belief ; but that the numbers of Madagascar should be the 

 same as all these is almost if not quite incredible. I shall 

 give them from a book called a Collection of Voyages ly the 

 Dutch East Company, Lond. 1*703, p. 116, where, supposing 

 the author who speaks of ten numbers and gives only nine 

 to have lost the fifth, their similarity is beyond dispute. 



1 Probably one of the Samoa group, not the Keeling Islands. 



2 An island off the N.E. coast of New Guinea, so named by Le Maire. 



