16 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
recognize them as his own, but would write them 
down as native words. Prckaninny is a specimen — 
of this kind. 
It was not in words only, but also in their appli- 
cation, that the most ludicrous mistakes were made 
by the people. ‘‘ Oli mani,” a corruption of the 
English words “‘ old man,” is the common term for 
any thing old; hence, a blunt, broken knife, and 
a, threadbare or ragged dress, is called ‘oli mani.” 
A captain of a ship, at anchor in one of the har- 
bours, was once inquiring of a native something 
about his wife, who was sitting by. The man 
readily answered his question, and concluded by 
saying, “Oli mani hoi,” she ig ‘also an old 
man.” 
Part of each day was by several devoted to 
the study of the language, while once a week, 
the whole met together for conversation and 
mutual aid. The only means they had of ob- 
taining it was, by observing carefully the native 
sounds of words, and then writing down the cha- 
racters by which they were expressed. In this 
they found great difficulty, from what generally 
proves a source of perplexity to a learner, in his 
first attempt at understanding a foreign tongue, 
viz. the rapidity with which the natives appeared | 
to speak, and the want of divisions between the 
words. The singular fact of most of their syl- 
lables consisting of a consonant and a vowel, 
and a vowel always terminating both their syllables 
and their words, increased their embarrassment in 
this respect. 
It was a circumstance highly advantageous to 
the Missionaries, that the Tahitians were remark- 
ably loquacious, often spending hours in conver- 
sation, however trivial its topics, patiently listening . 
