It doth not become me to say how far the principal objects of our voyage have been obtained. Though it hath not abounded with remarkable events, nor been diversified by sudden transitions of fortune; though my relation of it has been more employed in tracing our course by sea, than in recording our operations on shore; this, perhaps, is a circumstance from which the curious reader may infer, that the purposes for which we were sent into the southern hemisphere were diligently and effectually pursued. Had we found out a continent there, we might have been better enabled to gratify curiosity; but we hope our not having found it, after all our persevering searches, will leave less room for future speculation about unknown worlds remaining to be explored.
But, whatever may be the public judgment about other matters, it is with real satisfaction, and without claiming any merit but that of attention to my duty, that I can conclude this account with an observation which facts enable me to make, that our having discovered the possibility of preserving health amongst a numerous ship’s company, for such a length of time, in such varieties of climate, and amidst such continued hardships and fatigues, will make this voyage remarkable in the opinion of every benevolent person, when the disputes about a Southern Continent shall have ceased to engage the attention, and to divide the judgment of philosophers.
A
VOCABULARY
OF THE
LANGUAGE
OF THE
SOCIETY ISLES.
DIRECTIONS
FOR THE
PRONUNCIATION OF THE VOCABULARY.
As all nations who are acquainted with the method of communicating their ideas by characters (which represent the sound that conveys the idea), have some particular method of managing or pronouncing the sounds represented by such characters, this forms a very essential article in the constitution of the language of any particular nation, and must therefore be understood before we can make any progress in learning, or be able to converse in it. But as this is very complex and tedious to a beginner, by reason of the great variety of powers the characters of letters are endued with under different circumstances, it would seem necessary, at least in languages which have never before appeared in writing, to lessen the number of these varieties, by restraining the different sounds, and always representing the same simple ones by the same character; and this is no less necessary in the English than any other language, as this variety of powers is very frequent, and without being taken notice of in the following Vocabulary, might render it entirely unintelligible. As the vowels are the regulation of all sounds, it is these only that need be noticed, and the powers allotted to each of these in the Vocabulary is subjoined.
A in the English language is used to represent two different simple sounds, as in the word Arabia, where the first and last have a different power from the second. In the Vocabulary this letter must always have the power, or be pronounced like the first and last in Arabia. The other power or sound of the second a, is always represented in the Vocabulary by a and i, printed in Italics thus, ai.
E has likewise two powers, or it is used to represent two simple sounds, as in the words Eloquence, Bred, Led, &c. and it may be said to have a third power, as in the words Then, When, &c. In the first case, this letter is only used at the beginning of words, and wherever it is met with in any other place in the words of the Vocabulary, it is used as in the second case: but never as in the third example; for this power or sound is every where expressed by the a and i before mentioned, printed in Italics.
I is used to express different simple sounds, as in the words Indolence, Iron, and Imitation. In the Vocabulary it is never used as in the first case, but in the middle of words; it is never used as in the second example, for that sound is always represented by y, nor is it used as in the last case, that sound being always represented by two ees, printed in Italics in this manner, ee.
O never alters in the pronunciation, i. e. in this Vocabulary, of a simple sound, but is often used in this manner, oo, and sounds as in Good, Stood, &c.
U alters, or is used to express different simple sounds, as in Unity, or Umbrage. Here the letters e and u, printed in Italics eu, are used to express its power as in the first example, and it always retains the second power, wherever it is met with.