forced
them to return. The same gust very nearly carried away one of our sails,
and the proximity of the land placed us for a minute or two in a
critical situation, but the coolness and skill of our officers and men
relieved us from the momentary danger. In half an hour the regular
trade-wind returned, and with the liveliest wishes for the future
welfare of the good Tahaitians, we lost sight of their lovely island.

To the remarks concerning them already made, I will add some on their
language, from the work on this subject which I have before mentioned.
The author says, "The language spoken on most of the islands of the
South Sea, and therefore called the Polynesian, may be considered either
as primitive, or as related to, and descended from, a common source with
the Malay." It is undoubtedly very old, for these people have been from
an unknown period separated from all others, and before the arrival of
Europeans among them, considered themselves as the whole human race.

Although, in comparison with European languages, that of Tahaiti, as
belonging to an ignorant and uncultivated people, is necessarily very
defective, it perhaps surpasses all others in strength, precision, and
simplicity,--in the personal pronouns especially. Its resemblance to the
Hebrew, in the conjugation of the verbs, as well as in the roots of
some of the words, can easily be proved. Many of the words really appear
of Hebrew origin: as for example, _mate_, dead; _mara_, or _maramosa_,
bitter; _rapaon_, to heal, &c.

The Polynesian language being so widely extended, and spoken by the
inhabitants of so many islands, who have little or no intercourse with
each other, it naturally branches into many dialects. These are indeed
so various, that they cannot readily be recognised as derivatives from
the same stock.

The principal dialects are,--that spoken in the Sandwich Islands, or the
Hawaiian; that of the Marquesas; that of New Zealand; the Tongatabuan,
spoken by the inhabitants of the Friendly Islands, and the Tahaitian.
All the others, as far as they are known, are more or less related to
these.

The Tahaitian dialect is distinguished by its melody, as it has no broad
or hissing consonants. The pronunciation is rendered difficult by its
numerous diphthongs.

The substantives do not change their terminations in declension; but
the cases, of which there are but three, are formed by syllables
prefixed: for example--

SINGULAR.

Nom.--_