APPENDIX. 
471 
of the same meaning in Malayan ; notwithstanding this, there is 
a striking resemblance in others, and a great part of the language 
was doubtles derived from the same source. 
Since my return to England, I have had an opportunity of con¬ 
versing with the Madagasse youth now in this country for the 
purposes of education, and from them, as well as a vocabulary 
which I have seen, I was surprised to learn, that in several points 
the aboriginal languages of Madagascar and the South Sea Islands 
are strikingly analogous, if not identical, though the islands are 
about 10,000 geographical miles distant from each other. 
With the aboriginal languages of South America we have had 
no opportunity of comparing it; some of the words of that coun¬ 
try, in their simplicity of construction and vowel terminations, 
as Peru, Quito, pronounced kito , Parana, Oronoko, &c. appear 
like Polynesian words. 
In the Sandwich Islands, as well as the Tahitian language, 
there are a number of words that appear true Hebrew roots, and 
in the conjugation of the verbs there is a striking similarity; the 
causative active and the causative passive being formed by a pre¬ 
fix and suffix to the verb. 
In many respects it is unique, and in some defective, but not 
in that degree which might be expected from the limited know¬ 
ledge of the people. The simple construction of the words, the 
predominancy of vowels, and the uniform terminations, are its 
great peculiarities. The syllables are in general composed of 
two letters, and never more than three. There are no sibilants in 
the language, nor any double consonants. Every word and 
syllable terminates with a vowel; and the natives cannot pro¬ 
nounce two consonants without an intervening vowel; nor a word 
terminating with a consonant, without either dropping the final 
letter, or adding a vowel; hence they pronounce Britain, Beri- 
tani, boat, boti; while there are many words, and even sen¬ 
tences, without a consonant, as eiai oe ia ia ae e ao ia , literally, 
‘ speak now to him by the side that he learn/ The frequent use 
of the k renders their speech more masculine than that of the 
Tahitians, in which the t predominates. 
The sound of their language is peculiarly soft and harmonious; 
great attention is also paid to euphony, on account of which the 
article is often varied; the same is the case in the Tahitian, in 
which the word tavovovovo , signifies the rolling of thunder. 
Each of the dialects appears adapted for poetry, and none 
more so than the Hawaiian, in which the l frequently occurs. 
Whether the smoothness of their language induced the natives 
to cultivate metrical composition, or their fondness for the latter 
has occasioned the multiplicity of vowels, and soft flowing 
