166 GENERAL ACCOUNT OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDS CH. vn 



It must be remembered, however, that the author of this 

 voyage, during the course of it, touched at Java and several 

 other East Indian Isles, as well as at Madagascar ; so that if 

 by any disarrangement of his papers he has given the numerals 

 of some of those islands for those of Madagascar, our wonder 

 will be much diminished ; for after having traced them from 

 Otahite to New Guinea it would not seem very wonderful 

 to carry them a little farther to the East Indian Isles, which 

 from their situation seem not unlikely to be the place from 

 whence our islanders originally came. But I shall waive 

 saying any more on this subject till I have had an opportunity 

 of myself seeing the customs, etc. of the\ Javans, which this 

 voyage will in all probability give me an opportunity of doing. 



The language of all the islands I was upon was the same, 

 so far as I could understand it ; the people of Ulhietea only 

 changed the t of the Otahiteans to k, calling tata, which 

 signifies a man or woman, Itaka, a peculiarity which made 

 the language much less soft. The people of Oheteroa, so far 

 as I could understand their words, which were only shouted 

 out to us, seemed to do the same thing, and add many more 

 consonants, which made their language much less musical 

 I shall give a few of the words, from whence an idea may 

 be got of their language. 



