and the Mpongwe. 109 
This branch has its peculiarities. Like Italian— 
the coquette who grants her smiles to many, her 
favours to few—one of the easiest to understand 
and to speak a little, it is very difficult to master. 
Whilst every native child can thread its way safely 
through its intricate, elaborate, and apparently 
arbitrary variations, the people comprehend a 
stranger who blunders over every sentence. Mr. 
Wilson thus limits the use of the accent : “Whilst 
the Mandenga (“ A Grammar of the Mandenga 
Language,” by the Rev. R. Maxwell Macbriar, Lon¬ 
don, John Mason) and the Grebo (“ Grammar,” by 
the Right Rev. John Payne, D.D. 150, Nassau 
Street, New York, 1864), distinguish between 
similar words, especially monosyllables, by a cer¬ 
tain pitch of voice, the Mpongwe repel accent, and 
rely solely upon the clear and distinct vowel 
sounds.” But I found the negative past, present, 
and future forms of verbs wholly dependent upon 
a change of accent, or rather of intonation or 
voice-pitch, which the strangers ear, unless acute, 
will fail to detect. F or instance, Mi Taunda 
would mean “ I love; ” Mi taunda , “ I do not 
love.” The reverend linguist also asserts that it 
is almost entirely free from guttural and nasal 
sounds; the latter appeared to me as numerous 
and complicated as in the Sanskrit. Mr. 
Wilson could hardly have had a nice ear, or he 
would not have written Nchfgo “ Ntyege,” or 
