POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
407 
to its acquisition^ and twice a week we metj when we 
were assisted by the instructions of Mr. Davies^ who 
favoured us with the use of his manuscript vocabu¬ 
lary^ and the outlines of a grammar^ which he had pre¬ 
pared several years before. In addition to these means^ 
I found the composing^ or setting, of the types for the 
Tahitian books, the best method of acquiring all that was 
printed in the language. Every letter in every word 
passing repeatedly, not only under my eye, but through 
my hand, I acquired almost mechanically the orthogra¬ 
phy. The number of natives by whom we were always 
surrounded, afforded the best opportunities for learning 
the meaning of those words which we did not under¬ 
stand. The structure of many sentences was also 
acquired by the same means | and, in much less than 
twelve months, I could converse familiarly on any 
common subject. 
My acquisition of the language was thus facilitated 
by attention to the printing in the native language. 
The use of the press in the different islands, we natu¬ 
rally regard as one of the most powerful human agen¬ 
cies that can be employed in forming the mental and 
moral character of the inhabitants, imparting to their 
pursuits a salutary direction, and elevating the whole 
community. It is not easy to estimate correctly the 
advantages already derived from this important engine 
of improvement. The sacred scriptures, and the codes 
of laws, are the only standard works of importance yet 
printed. The whole of the New, and detached portions 
of the Old Testament, have been finished, and the 
remaining parts are in progress. 
In the native language, they also possess Old 
and New Testament histories—several large editions 
