to so important a discovery; that he then rapidly advanced to the margin, plunged up to his middle in its waves, with his sword and buckler, and took possession of it in the name of his sovereign, Ferdinand of Spain.

The subsequent discovery of the straits of Magellan, which was made by the man whose nautical enterprises have been communicated in the name given to this entrance from the Atlantic to the Pacific, opened a way for a communication from one ocean to the other.Magellan was the first navigator who launched a European ship upon the Southern Ocean; and though the intrepid commander did not live to return to reap the reward of his successful enterprise, having been killed by some of the natives of the Philippine Isles, the Victory, the ship in which he sailed, having first proved the practicability of sailing round this terraqueous globe, returned in triumph to Europe.

Having thus opened a passage into this extended ocean, subsequent navigators discovered first one and then another island, or groups of islands, until the celebrated Captain Cook, in the close of the 18th century, discovered and gave name to the Georgian and Society Islands. From that time to this, these islands, together with others which have been discovered by different navigators, have attracted the attention of the civilized world; and latterly an intense interest has been awakened in their behalf by the success which has accompanied the labors of the Christian missionaries which have been sent to convert their inhabitants to Christianity. This interest has been increased in consequence of the severe attacks which have been made upon the character and conduct of the missionaries, as well as upon the effect of their labors, by enemies to the cause of Christian missions. These attacks have been repelled, and the cause triumphantly vindicated, by men who had been on the spot, and had personally witnessed the beneficial effects of missionary labor among these benighted people. The accurate account of these islands, and of their inhabitants, both before and since their conversion to Christianity, by Bennett and Steward, has been read with lively interest, and made so favorable an impression on the public mind to the cause of foreign missions, as can never be erased, even should another infidel pen be employed in slandering their character.

The author before us writes of things which he has seen and felt. Eight years' residence among the people, during which time he was employed not only as a Christian teacher, but also in making observations upon the character and habits of the people; on their history and language, and on the situation, climate, soil, and productions of the islands, has enabled him to spread before his readers a mass of information on a variety of subjects of a physical, moral, and religious character, at once edifying and delightful. To such of our readers as

have not made themselves acquainted with the situation and names of these islands, the following account will be acceptable :—

'The two clusters extend from 16 to 18 degrees S. lat., and from 149 to 155 degrees W. long., and are often included by geographical writers; among others by M. Malte Brun, under the general designation of the Society Islands. (System of Geography, vol. iii, p. 630.) As the islands are politically as well as geographically distinct, I have retained the designations given by Capt. Cook, occasionally exchanging them for the terms Windward and Leeward Islands, which are frequently used by those residing and trading among them.

The following table, principally from Wallis, Cook, and Wilson, will show their relative situations :

In the preceding list I have adopted the orthography introduced by the first missionaries, and by the press now established among the people. This has not been done from caprice or affectation, but because the letters approach the nearest to the signification of the sounds used by the natives themselves. In the words Otaheite, Otahaa, &c, sounds were exhibited which do not belong to the names they were intended to express, and on this account only they have been rejected.

As the native names of persons and places will unavoidably occur in the succeeding pages, a brief notice of the sounds of the letters, and the division of some of the principal words, will probably familiarize them to the eye of the reader, and facilitate their pronunciation.

The different Polynesian dialects abound in vowel sounds, perhaps above any other language; they have also another striking peculiarity, that of rejecting all double consonants, possessing invariably vowel terminations both of their syllables and words. Every final vowel is therefore distinctly sounded. Several consonants used in the English language do not exist in that of the Georgian and Society Islanders. There is no sibillant or hissing sound: s and c, and the corresponding letters, are therefore unnecessary. The consonants that are used retain the sound usually attached to them in English.

The natives sound the vowels with great distinctness: a has the sound of a in father, e the sound of a in fate, i that of i in marine or e in me, o that of o in no, u that of oo in root. The diphthong ai is sounded as i in wine. The following are some of the names most frequently used in the present work.

The first column presents them in the proper syllabic divisions observed by the people. In the second column I have endeavored to

exhibit the native orthoepy, by employing those letters which, according to their general use in the English language, would secure, as nearly as possible, the accurate pronunciation of the native words. The h is placed after the a only to secure to that vowel the uniform sound of a in father, or a in the interjection ah or aha. Y is also put after a, to secure for the Tahitian vowel e invariably the sound of a in daylight or may-pole.

NAMES OF PLACES.

Tah-he-te

Máh-tah-vye
Pae-ray

Pah-pay-ay-tay

Ah-tay-hoo-roo
Tye-ah-rah-boo
Eye-may-o
Mo-o-ray-ah

Ah-fah-ray-eye-too
O-poo-no-hoo
Hoo-ah-he-nay
Fáh-ray

Rye-ah-tay-ah
O-po-ah
Oo-too-mao-ro
Tah-ha-ah
Bo-rah-bo-rah
Mou-roo-a
Rah-pah
Eye-too-tah-kay
Me-te-ah-ro
Mah-oo-tay
Ah-tew
Rah-ro-to-na

or

Rah-ro-ton-ga

Too-boo-eye
Ry-vah-vye
Re-mah-tah-rah

Poh-mah-ray
E-dee-ah
Eye-mah-tah

Tu-bu-aí

Raí-va-vaî

Rí-ma-tá-ra

Po-má-re

I-dí-a

Ai-má-ta

Té-rii-tá-ri-a.

Tá-ro-á-ri-i

Ma-hí-ne

Té-rai-má-no

Taú-a.

Tou-ah

Tay-ree-tah-re-ah
Tah-ro-ah-re-e
Mah-he-nay

Tay-rye-mah-no

Tah-mah-to-ah

We are thankful for this key to the orthography and pronunciation of the names of these islands, and some other proper names; for, as a certain speaker once remarked at one of our anniversaries, such is the zeal of our modern missionaries, in penetrating into new and hitherto unheard-of places, among savage tribes and foreign nations, many of whom are distinguished by such unpronunciable names, and by such a strange combination of the letters of the alphabet, that one knows not how to frame the organs of speech to give them their right pronunciation. But if while we are learning to call them by their right names, we may be instrumental in teaching them the sound, the meaning, and the high importance of the name of JESUS, we shall not only not regret our labor, but shall rejoice at those openings of Divine Providence by which we are enabled to carry the Gospel blessings to so many barbarous tribes of men.

The beauty of these islands, as well as the fertility of their soil, has been celebrated by all who have visited them. The following is our author's vivid description of them :

Every writer on the South Sea Islands has been lavish in praise of their scenery. Malte Brun observes, "A new Cythera emerges from the bosom of the enchanted wave. An amphitheatre of verdure rises to our view; tufted groves mingle their foliage with the brilliant enamel of the meadows; an eternal spring, combining with an eternal autumn, displays the opening blossom along with the ripened fruits." (Syst. of Geog. vol. iii, p. 396. Ibid. p. 631.) When speaking of Tahiti, he remarks, that it "has merited the title of Queen of the Pacific Ocean." The descriptions in Cook's Voyages are not exaggerated, and no scenery is adapted to produce a more powerful or delightful impression on the mind of those who traverse the wide ocean in which they are situated, than the islands of the South Sea. The effect on my own mind, when approaching Tahiti for the first time, will not be easily obliterated.

The sea had been calm, the morning fair, the sky was without a cloud, and the lightness of the breeze had afforded us leisure for gazing upon the varied, picturesque, and beautiful scenery of this most enchanting island. We had beheld successively, as we slowly sailed along its shore, all the diversity of hill and valley, broken or stupendous mountains, and rocky precipices, clothed with every variety of verdure, from the moss of the jutting promontories on the shore, to the deep and rich foliage of the bread-fruit tree, the oriental luxuriance of the tropical pandanus, or the waving plumes of the lofty and graceful cocoanut grove. The scene was enlivened by the waterfall on the mountain's side, the cataract that chafed along its rocky bed in the

recesses of the ravine, or the stream that slowly wound its way through the fertile and cultivated valleys, and the whole was surrounded by the white-crested waters of the Pacific, rolling their waves of foam in splendid majesty upon the coral reefs, or dashing in spray against its broken shore.

Cataracts and waterfalls, though occasionally seen, are not so numerous on any part of the Tahitian coast as in the north-eastern shores of Hawaii. The mountains of Tahiti are less grand and stupendous than those of the northern group-but there is a greater richness of verdure and variety of landscape; the mountains are much broken in the interior, and deep and frequent ravines intersect their declivity from the centre to the shore. As we advanced toward the anchorage, I had time to observe, not only the diversified scenery, but the general structure and form of the island. Tahiti, excepting the border of low alluvial land by which it is nearly surrounded, is altogether mountainous, and highest in the centre. The mountains frequently diverge in short ranges from the interior toward the shore, though some rise like pyramids with pointed summits, and others present a conical, or sugar-loaf form, while the outline of several is regular, and almost circular. Orohena, the central and loftiest mountain in Tahiti, is six or seven thousand feet above the sea. Its summit is generally enveloped in clouds; but when the sky is clear, its appearance is broken and picturesque.

Matavai Bay was the first place where we anchored, or had an opportunity of examining more closely the country. The level land at the mouth of the valley is broad; but along the eastern and southern sides the mountains approach nearer to the sea. A dark-coloured sandy beach extends all round the bay, except at its southern extremity, near One-tree Hill, where the shore is rocky and bold. Groves of bread-fruit and cocoanut trees appear in every direction; and, amid the luxuriance of vegetation every where presented, the low and rustic habitations of the natives gave a pleasing variety to the delightful scene.

In the exterior or border landscapes of Tahiti and the other islands, there is a variety of objects, a happy combination of land and water, of precipices and plains, of trees often hanging their branches, clothed with thick foliage, over the sea, and distant mountains shown in sublime outline, and richest hues; and the whole, often blended in the harmony of nature, produces sensations of admiration and delight. The inland scenery is of a different character, but not less impressive. The landscapes are occasionally extensive, but more frequently circumscribed. There is, however, a startling boldness in the towering piles of basalt, often heaped in romantic confusion near the source or margin of some crystal stream, that flows in silence at their base, or dashes over the rocky fragments that arrest its progress: and there is the wildness of romance about the deep and lonely glens, around which the mountains rise like the steep sides of a natural amphitheatre, till the clouds seem supported by them-this arrests the attention of the beholder, and for a time suspends his faculties in mute astonishment. There is also so much that is new in the character and growth of trees and flowers, irregular, spontaneous, and luxuriant in the vegetation, which is sustained by a prolific soil, and matured by the genial heat of a tropic clime, that it is adapted to produce an indescribable