THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
159 
Erreoe woman is delivered of a child, a piece of cloth, dip- 1777. 
ped in water, is applied to the mouth and nofe, Which fuf- t December ; 
focates it. 
As 
Voyages, when fpeaking of the Divinities of his iflands, whom he calls Eatooas. And 
it may be matter of curiofity to remark, that what is called an Aniti, at the Ladrones, is, 
as we learn from Cantova [Lettres Edifiantes et Curieufes, Tom. xv. p. 309, 310.], at the 
Caroline Iflands, where dead Chiefs are alfo worfhipped, called a Tahutup ; and that, by 
foftening or finking the flrong founding letters, at the beginning and at the end of this 
latter word, the Ahutu of the Carolines, the Aiti of the Ladrones, and the Eatooa of the 
South Pacific Iflands, affume fuch a fimilarity in pronunciation (for we can have no other 
guide), as flrongly marks one common original. Once more; we learn from Le Gobien, 
that the Marianne people call their Chiefs Chatnorris , or Chamoris. And, by foftening the 
afpirate Ch into % and the harfhnefs of r into / (of which the vocabularies of the different 
iflands give us repeated infltances), we have the Tamole of the Caroline Iflands, and the 
Tamolao , or Tamaha^ of the Friendly ones. 
If thefe fpecimens of affinity of language fhould be thought too fcanty, fome very re¬ 
markable inflances of fimilarity of cuftoms and inflitutions will go far to remove every 
doubt. I. A divifion into three claffes, of nobles, a middle rank, and the common peo¬ 
ple, or fervants, was found, by Captain Cook, to prevail both at the Friendly and the 
Society Iflands. Father le Gobien exprefsly tells us, that the fame diflin&ion prevails at 
the Ladrones : 11 y a trots etats , parmi les infulaires , la noblejje , le tnoyen , et le menu. 
2. Numberlefs inflances occur in Captain Cook’s voyage to prove the great fubje&ion 
under which the people of his iflands are to their Chiefs. We learn from Le Gobien, 
that it is fo alfo at the Ladrones— La noblejfe eft d’un fierte incroyable , et tien le peuple dans 
un abatement quon ne pourroit imaginer en Europe , See. 3. The diverfions of the natives 
at Wateeoo, the Friendly, and the Society Iflands, have been copioufly deferibed by 
Captain Cook. How fimilar are thofe which Le Gobien mentions in the following 
words, as prevailing at the Ladrones ! Ils fe divertijfent d danfer , courir-, fautir, latter^ pour 
s’exercer, et eprouver leur forces. Ils prennent grand plaifer d r a confer les avantures de leurs 
ancetres , et d reciter des vers de leurs poetes. 4. The principal fhare fuflained by the wo¬ 
men, in the entertainments at Captain Cook’s iflands, appears fufficiently from a variety 
of inflances in this work ; and we cannot read what Le Gobien fays, of the practice at 
the Ladrones, without tracing the flrongefl refemblance.— Dans leurs affemblees elles fe 
mettent doux ou trieze femmes en rond> deboitt y fans fe remuerDans cette attitude elles 
chantent les vers fabuleux de leurs poetes avec un agrement , et une jujlejfe qui plairoit en Eu¬ 
rope. L’accord de leur voix ejl admirable , et ne cede en rien d la mufique concertee. Elles 
mtt dans les mains de petitS coquiiks y dont elks fe fervent avec beaucoup de precifm. Elles 
fautiennent 
