130 SAM O AN GROUP. 



The Samoan language is soft and smooth, and is the only one of 

 the Polynesian dialects in which the sound of s is found. The 

 letters that the missionaries have found necessary to adopt in order to 

 write it, are only fourteen in number, viz. iaefgilmsopstuv. 

 In attempting to sound the words of other languages, they use L in- 

 stead of r, s for h, and p instead of b. The g has a nasal sound, as 

 in ong. 



It has nearly the same construction as the Tahitian, nevertheless 

 the Samoan is far from being understood by the natives of the Society 

 Islands. The Samoans say that they never can acquire it — " their 

 jaws are too stiff." The missionaries also have great difficulty in 

 speaking it, and are liable to make many mistakes which appear 

 absurd to the natives. 



We have seen that it possesses the sibilant sound of s, and every 

 one of the words terminates with a vowel. 



A separate dialect is appropriate to the chiefs, all of whose actions, 

 the parts of their bodies, &c, have different names from those of the 

 common people. The Philological Report is referred to for further 

 information upon this subject. 



Many of the Samoans reach the age of seventy or eighty years. 

 There is, however, a great mortality among the young children, 

 which is probably owing to their exposure to the weather. Those 

 who survive, grow up robust and healthy. 



Among the diseases which afflict the adults, one of the most usual 

 is a spinal affection, which results in caries and produces humpback. 

 This is no doubt owing to the peculiar manner in which the children 

 are carried. Catarrhs and bronchial disorders, occasioned by the 

 exposed life of the natives, are prevalent, and a white resident died of 

 phthisis during our stay. The dysentery, as an epidemic, is unknown, 

 but sporadic cases of it occur, occasioned by imprudence in diet. 



There is an eruptive complaint, called ilamea, which covers many 

 of the children under the age of ten years with sores, and which 

 seems more particularly to attack the face and head. The mode in 

 which it is treated is singular : the child is rubbed with the husks of 

 the cocoa-nut, until all the scabs are removed ; a soft preparation of 

 the bread-fruit is then applied, after which they are washed. This 

 operation is undergone every time they bathe, which is daily. When 

 the bread-fruit is not in season, a decoction of the husk of the cocoa- 

 nut is used in its place. 



The elephantiasis prevails to a great extent among men who are 



