the volcano, and was suffocated by its fumes. So eagerly were we examining the crater that we neglected to notice the dangerous position in which we were, for, to our surprise, the vessel, notwithstanding the breeze we had, made but little headway, and for a few minutes it looked as if the current would draw us into the volcano. However, after several minutes of suspense the breeze increased, and we were soon out of danger, which was clearly manifested by the vessel shooting ahead as she drew out of the current; and it is fortunate for us that we escaped when we did, for the volcano commenced action shortly afterwards, and fragments of heated stone were hurled aloft to a great height and then fell, together with showers of cinders, splashing into the sea at some distance from the edge of the new-formed island. The matter ejected now seemed to be of a more solid nature than that which had been previously thrown out by the volcano. This, together with the fact that very little steam was now seen around its base, although over the surface of the island the steam still continued to rise in small jets, seems to be sufficient proof of the correctness of the conjecture formed by Dr. Buckland, that it had now passed from a submarine volcano to that of a volcanic island, and although no fire presented itself, yet it continued all day belching forth such solid matter, accompanied with clouds of gases; for, after the completion of the crater, the enormous upheavals of cinders, mud, and dust, &c., increased not only in rapidity, but also in height, ten occurring in twelve minutes; sometimes a second and third would arise before the first had fallen. This continued for about threequarters of an hour, when the eruptions became less frequent, but increasing in height, towering aloft from 8,000 to 10,000 feet, or perhaps even considerably higher, and the light flocculent clouds of vapour, which separated themselves from the main mass and floated away in the air, presented a most enchanting spectacle, and between the eruptions the island was more or less visible. But to describe the various shapes which these eruptions of gaseous matter assumed would be impossible. It certainly is one of the grandest efforts that even volcanic nature has ever made, and one of the most beautiful sights that mortal man has ever been permitted to behold. On that evening, about 7.30, the first signs of fire were visible, and all through the night at intervals it sent up quick darts of lurid light, sometimes of a burning red, and at other times a bluish or pinkish flame; the reflection on the clouds, as some large flash burst forth, presented all the features of sheet lightning, and the light always appeared in the same place, and on one occasion four or five flashes occurred at the same instant; but whether it was due to the condensed clouds of vapour being highly charged with electricity, or whether it was caused by fire being ejected from the volcano, it is difficult to determine.

And

thus we were permitted to see the various forms through which it passed, from that of a submarine volcano, with its dashing boiling stream, to that of a volcanic island ejecting its heated stones, mud, cinders, &c.

This volcano forms one of the linear series of volcanoes which run in a direct line from the Culibras to Fonualei, bearing N. by E. E. and S. by W. W. magnetic.

There are no less than six volcanoes in this belt, including the recent one, and all in the Friendly Islands Group, viz. : Sandfly Rock, Tofua, Kao, Wesley Rock, Late, and Fonualei. This is the order in which they stand from the recent volcano. Of these Kao is the highest, and is 5,000 feet in height, but has not been active for many years; its crater is on the N.E. side, and the shape of the island is that of a large cone. The next in height is that of Tofua, a large razor-back island, with the crater on the N.E. side. This is 2,800 feet in height, and has been slightly in action only a few months ago. The next is Late, 1,790 feet, and is still in action. Then comes Fonualei, which in some parts is about 600 feet, but has not been active for more than thirty years. The last volcano is that of Wesley Rock, which sprang up as a submarine volcano in the year 1858, and was discovered by the John Wesley: it is now about 400 feet, and occasionally very active. It is somewhat singular, and perhaps worthy of notice, that the mouth of all the craters of these volcanoes has an easterly aspect. But whether the present volcano has burst out on a part of the Culibras reef we are not prepared at present to say, the Culibras reef being marked on our chart more to the S.W. And a circumstance of considerable interest in connection with the Culibras reef is that it has fallen and risen several times during the last few years: at times a long reef being distinctly visible above the water, and at other times not a trace of it to be found; such is the statement of authorities who went with the express purpose of ascertaining and locating its position; and on one occasion, after the lapse of a year or so, the reef was found to have shifted a distance of no less than three miles. The position of the present volcano is N.N.W. from Nukualofa, 48 miles; from Huga Tonga, N.N.W.

W., 14 miles; from Huga Haapai, N. by W. W., 15 miles; and its latitude and longitude, from bearings taken on board the Sandfly while abreast of the volcano, are: Latitude, 20° 21′ S.; longitude, 175° 23′ W.

Since writing the above account, Captain Lane, of the Maile, who visited the volcano thirty-two hours after we left it, states that in his opinion the volcanic action is dying out, that the upheavals are becoming in a marked manner less in height, that the largest he saw was only about 5,000 feet high, and that the island did not appear much more than a mile in length; but others of his ship's crew give two and a-half to three and a-half

miles as its length. The captain also states that the island is now fully 150 feet high. But yesterday and to-day (October 19th) the volcano, as seen from Nukualofa, is again as active if not more so than ever.

The difficulty of putting on paper anything like a correct idea of this grand sight will be fully admitted by every lover of science, but we trust that this short description will enable some who were not permitted to be with us to form some idea of this magnificent spectacle of our latest volcanic eruption.

ART. VI.-The Maori Language, with Remarks on the Reform of English Spelling.

By JAMES COUTTS CRAWFORD, F.G.S.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 21st October, 1885.] Prefatory.

I USE, for illustration, the vowels as generally pronounced in Italian, German, Spanish, excluding the French modifications. In a reform of the English alphabet it is difficult to say how to express the sound of the English e, the Continental i. This latter vowel is so much used in English, in such words as tin, sin, &c., that it would be difficult to establish as e, and therefore, perhaps, the German ie will be preferable for the purpose.

I use the German diphthongs au, ai, ei, iu. Italian, I think, has no diphthongs, the vowels in that language are all pronounced separately. I have used ae to represent the English a, as in fate. This is perhaps non-phonetic, but it is in accordance with Teutonic usage; a has always the broad sound, as in man.

I have used ao to represent the English aw, as in law, but I am inclined to think that it would be better to adopt for this purpose what appears to be the Dutch plan, viz., aa.

It is sometimes inconvenient to use the German ie to represent the English e, as for instance, in Scripture names. those cases I have retained i alone.

In

It is a matter for congratulation that, whoever reduced the Maori tongue into a written language, has avoided the absurd attempt to adopt it to English vowel sounds, and has adopted the Continental vowel system and pronunciation. The Maori language has, in consequence, assumed a form and appearance of structure and of culture which would have been lost had the English system prevailed, and the result is, that the moment a

word in the language is seen, its pronunciation is at once apparent.

If we compare this system with that which was formerly in vogue when English orthography was applied to the names of persons and places in India, native names in Australia, and also in America, we may perceive at a glance the advantages gained by the practice adopted with reference to the Maori language.

In reading most books upon India, it is almost impossible for a person uninitiated in the native tongues to tell the sounds of the native names and designations. Thus we find the two chief tribes of Afghanistan described as the Barukzye and the Suddozye. When spelt Barukzai and Suddozai the pronunciation is obvious, but as they stand in the previous orthography there is an uncertainty about the sound, inasmuch as the letter y is pronounced in English in several different ways. The name of the kingdom of Oude is almost invariably pronounced wrongly by outsiders, as the spelling and the pronunciation are so inconsistent. One of the most irritating words, to my mind, in this orthography is sepoy, which is a barbarous corruption of sipahi, a foot soldier. In the English form the word has a ludicrous appearance.*

The other day, in an Indian work of merit, I came across the words gui hye; now who can tell, except he is told by an expert, what to make of this? Pronounce the words to a Maori, and he would at once write down kuai hai, about the sound of which there would be no mistake. Brandee pawnee low, a sentence which formerly was much heard in India, looks barbarous enough; a Maori would put it down as Parani paoni lau, which looks civilized.

The orthography of native names in Australia has similar defects to those above described in India, chiefly caused by making the letter i stand for the diphthong ai. Thus we find Koraio spelt Corio; Bulai, Bulli; Molongulai, Molongulli; Merai, Merri. This blunder is not constant, however, for we find Gundagai spelt correctly.

om.

In Fiji, and at the Cape of Good Hope, we find fanciful spelling. In the former we find e represents th, and o stands for Thus Thakombau is spelt Cacobau. In South Africa we find Ketchwayo spelt Cetewayo; Etchowe, Ekowe. This style is provoking, as apparently meant to puzzle people, without sense or reason. The result is that these names are generally pronounced wrongly.

One peculiarity the English have is in vulgarizing names. The King Kaofi Kalkali, of Ashanti, is reduced to Coffee Calcalee, although his name has doubtless nothing to do with coffee; the

A corrected official orthography for India has been issued, but many do not use it.

corn fodder of South Africa is spelt mealies, although not ground into meal, and milis would be the correct term. Various plants pass under the name of tea tree, including the ti (Cordyline australis) of New Zealand. The name of the old town of Aymouth is changed to Eyemouth, and Tung we find as Tongue. The euphonious name of the Pass of Branda is changed into Brander, giving one a suspicion of cooking. The names of the Irish towns, Tallogh and Mallogh, are changed into Tallow and Mallow from the dropping of the gutteral; but why not l'allo and Mallo. The w is of no use, but vulgarises the names by suggesting common articles. In Stanley's work, "How I found Livingstone," I find the word Seedy for Sidi, the name of a very useful tribe of negroes, many of the race being employed as firemen in the P. and O. steamers. There is no reason to suppose that they are of drunken habits, but the English spelling conveys that idea.

It was curious at the time of the war in Afghanistan to see the puzzle of the London newspapers, as to the spelling the name of the ruler of that State. His right name being Shir Ali, had been Frenchified into Shere Ali; and when a fort had to be named after him, instead of reverting to the correct name of Shir, they made the name Sherpur, "the town or fort of Shir Ali." A man must be very vowel deaf indeed who cannot see that this must alter the whole sound of the word.

Various attempts are now being made to reform the orthography of the English language by the Americans, and by the Spelling Reform Association and others in England.

In neither case are the results scientific or satisfactory.

The Americans seem to think that the main point to be attained lies in shortening the words, by omitting unnecessary consonants; the English by stereotyping existing sounds.

The English and American ears have become in a manner deaf to the true value of the vowel sounds, and require preliminary instruction before undertaking the reform.

Thus, by the American plan, by leaving out one in such words as spelling, shilling, willing, &c., we should soon, with the defective ear, get to the following changes in pronunciation, viz:-speling, spieling; shilling, shailing: willing, wailing. Another American change is spelling plough as plow, which is nonphonetic and objectionable; ow is a barbarous way of rendering what can be better done by au: besides which it is discredited for the purpose, as we have bow bau and bo; row = rau and ro; stow sto, &c.

So much for American innovations. The English idea seems to be to stereotype all the defective sounds at present existing, and apparently in the interests of the South of England and the Cockney dialect, ignoring the North. Thus we should soon lose the broad a and the sound of the letter r. A notable instance of