Page:Some Account of New Zealand.pdf/91

72 CHAP. XI.

language of these people I have reason to believe is copious, and it is by no means wanting in harmony. From the vociferation in the canoes, which camecome [sic] alongside the ship, an inattentive person would conceive that their language was discord itself; but from attending to their softer conversations, and their affectionate greetings, independently of their songs, I think I am warranted in saying, that the language of New Zealand possesses a considerable degree of softness.

Without attempting to say any thing of its construction, I shall give a vocabulary of