Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/35

Rh part, of the vocabulary, from the dialogues and tales, with other words. In the next place, having written down sundry examples in English, illustrative of every part of speech, in a variety of forms, and upon a variety of subjects, I gave them to Mr. Mariner to translate into Tonga, according to the strict idiom of that language: by this method we began to perceive what could be translated, and what could not; we discovered where the Tonga language was poor in expression, and where it was more richly endowed; what were the fundamental principles of construction, and what the particular idioms and exceptions to the general rules:—and thus proceeding, step by step, the character and genius of the language were unfolded; and, at length, we arrived at that degree of theoretical knowledge of the structure of it which is now, for the first time, presented to the public.

Every attempt to afford accurate information respecting the manners, customs, and sentiments of any portion of the human species, cannot but be considered, in