92 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
They estimate the distance of places by the 
length of time it takes to travel or sail from one to 
the other. Thus, if we wished to give them an 
idea of the distance from the islands to England, 
we should say it was five months ; and they would 
say the distance from Tahiti to Huahine was a 
night and a day, and from Huahine to Raiatea, 
from sunrise to nearly noon, &c. 
That their mental powers are not inferior to those 
of the generality of mankind, has been more fully 
shown since the establishment of schools, and the 
introduction of letters. Not only have the children 
and young persons learned to read, write, cipher, 
and commit their lessons to memory with a facility 
and quickness not exceeded by individuals of the 
same age in any country; but the education of 
adults, and even persons advanced in years—which 
in England, with every advantage, is so difficult 
an undertaking, that nothing but the use of the 
best means and untiring application ever accom¬ 
plished it—has been effected here with compara¬ 
tive ease. Multitudes, who were upwards of thirty 
or forty years of age when they commenced with 
the alphabet, have, in the course of twelve months, 
learned to read distinctly in the New Testament, 
large portions, and even whole books of which, 
some of them have in a short period committed to 
memory. 
They acquired the first rules of arithmetic with 
equal facility, and have readily received the diffe¬ 
rent kinds of instruction hitherto furnished, as fast 
as their teachers could prepare lessons in the 
native language. It is probable that not less 
than ten thousand persons have learned to read 
the Scriptures, and that nearly an equal num¬ 
ber are either capable of writing, or are under 
